Huawei locked out by US tech giants including Google, Intel and Qualcomm leaving it dead in the water

Huawei is facing a nightmare scenario following the issue of the latest order from the Trump administration stopping US companies from conducting any business with the Chinese company. In response all US companies have ceased any commercial arrangements with Huawei which means supplies of vital components for its devices from companies like Qualcomm, Broadcom and Qualcomm have been halted. Perhaps, even more crucially, Google has suspended its Huawei’s Android license.

The loss of Google’s Android license means that Huawei will be forced to use the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and will have all access to Google’s services including the Play Store and all Google apps cut off. This will delay all updates including security patches. Users of existing Huawei devices appear to be unaffected at this stage. While Huawei makes a number of its own components for smartphones including its Kirin HiSilicon chips and even modems, it still requires a number of other components from US companies. This also means that it won’t be able to secure supplies of x86 chips from either Intel or AMD or be able to purchase Microsoft Windows licences which will effectively kill its PC business. It is not yet known whether or if existing MateBook owners are or will be affected.

Huawei had recently cemented its spot as the number 2 smartphone maker in the world despite not having any access to the US market. However, the latest ruling from the US, fuelled US concerns that Huawei has been undertaking covert surveillance on behalf of the Chinese Government is a body blow from which it may not be able to recover, at least in the short to medium term while it seeks to establish new supply chains for components from alternative sources – assuming this is even possible.

Coupled with this, a number of western countries have already blocked Huawei from deploying their 5G cellular communications hardware from their networks. It leaves the company in a dire situation unless the Chinese government is able to intervene and convince the Trump administration to change course as it did with its compatriots at ZTE last year.