Intel, Qualcomm, and other chipmakers reportedly join Google in Huawei ban
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The chip suspensions follow the earlier news of Google abruptly rescinding Huawei’s Android license and halting its access to Google Play Services and the Play Store, effectively dumping it out of the Android smartphone market and forcing the Chinese company to develop its own version atop the barebone open-source edition of Android.
According to Bloomberg’s sources, employees across the major US chipmakers have been informed that their companies will freeze their supply deals with Huawei until further notice. Intel provides Huawei with server chips and the processors for its laptop line, while Qualcomm figures less prominently in providing modems and other processors. Huawei’s actually quite well insulated from the Qualcomm impact, as it builds its own mobile processors and modems. Another Bloomberg report suggests Huawei has also been preparing for this eventuality by stockpiling chips from US suppliers to last it at least three months , which should be enough time to tell if the current measure is a scare tactic or a permanent imposition from the US government.
Nikkei’s sources suggest that Europe might be falling into line as well. “Infineon decided to adopt a more cautious measure and stopped the shipment. But it will hold meetings this week to discuss [the situation] and make assessments,” said one source speaking to Nikkei. European chipmaker ST Microelectronics is reportedly discussing its continued shipments to Huawei this week as well.
Huawei has been developing in-house alternatives to Android and Windows , specifically to try and address a situation such as the present one. Microsoft hasn’t yet commented on whether it will continue to provide the Windows operating system for Huawei laptops, but odds are that it too will respect the US government’s orders.
The effort by the US government to sideline Huawei has been going for a long time, and the company was last year unceremoniously rebuffed in its effort to enter the US phone market. The current escalation is part of an increasingly hostile trade dispute between the Trump administration and the Chinese government, with the former trying to force a renegotiation of the trading relationship between the two.
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Will anyone dare predict how this will end?
Who believes that China will cave?
Who believes that China will go all-out to find ways to do without American participation?
Who believes that the final outcome will be good for American industry?
Oh...
That's another example of this Administration’s foresight, perhaps......
Update from The Verge :
Huawei responds to Android ban
Fresh off the sledgehammer blow of having its Android license revoked by Google in response to US government demands, Huawei has issued its first, limited response, which leaves more questions open than it answers. In a statement emailed to The Verge, Huawei underscores its contributions to the growth of Android globally — which most recently saw the company’s Android phone sales growing by double digits while every other leading smartphone vendor was shrinking or stagnant — and reassures current owners of Huawei and (subsidiary brand) Honor phones that they will continue to receive security updates and after-sales service. That promise also covers phones that are already shipped and in stock at stores globally, but no additional promises are made beyond that.
“Huawei has made substantial contributions to the development and growth of Android around the world. As one of Android’s key global partners, we have worked closely with their open-source platform to develop an ecosystem that has benefitted both users and the industry.
Huawei will continue to provide security updates and after-sales services to all existing Huawei and Honor smartphone and tablet products, covering those that have been sold and that are still in stock globally.
We will continue to build a safe and sustainable software ecosystem, in order to provide the best experience for all users globally.”
Google has already said that owners of Huawei phones will retain their access to the Play Store and continue being able to update their apps. The big thing that’s being written out of their future, however, are further Android OS updates from Google. To get those back, Huawei phone owners and fans will have to hope for a resolution in the US-China trade dispute, which has been the trigger for Huawei’s current blacklisting by the US government.
For its part, Huawei has been making preparations for an eventuality of losing access to software from US companies like Google and Microsoft, and it has been developing an in-house operating system alternative to Android. That may be what the company hints at in the final paragraph of its statement when it says it will “continue to build a safe and sustainable software ecosystem.” Sustainable being the key word.
We have front-row seats at a high stakes poker game. In fact, we may be the chips...
The lyrics from Kenny Roger's song, ''The Gambler'' seem to be quite fitting for this game being played.
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.
On the US side is the ''Art of the Deal''.....we shall see.
Three-dimensional chess...
Second update, from The Next Web :
Get ready for the great Huawei-Android war of independence
Last night, Reuters broke the news that Google, in response to a government order, was cutting ties with Chinese technology conglomerate Huawei. While the order is live, future devices from the company won’t have access to Google’s proprietary software – like Maps, the Google Play Store, and more.
This news is, frankly, devastating for Huawei. The company is the world’s second largest phone manufacturer. This is a feat the company has managed to accomplish while simultaneously avoiding the US market.
Huawei has achieved massive success in Europe, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Through Honor, Huawei’s primarily youth-oriented sub-brand, the company is the top-selling phone manufacturer in Russia. It feels patently unfair that these customers should lose choice, all because of an economic cold war that their countries aren’t party to — and perhaps don’t even want.
But it’s interesting to talk about what happens next. I think there are two possible directions for Huawei.
The first is the least likely, given the intransigence of the Trump administration, especially when it comes to foreign policy and trade issues.
If Huawei could somehow satisfy the US government that it isn’t a security threat, perhaps by granting it an all-access pass to its code and R&D data, it could convince the Commerce Department to remove it from the “entity list” that prohibits US companies from doing business with it. In the case of ZTE, who found itself in similar hot water last year, it had to replace several senior staff and pay a $1 billion fine.
There’s another reason why I think that’s unlikely: although that would address Huawei’s short-term issues, it would still leave the company at the mercy of its US partners, and the whims of the US government. For a company that’s managed to carve an impressive slice of the European and Asian smartphone sectors, that’s an unacceptable risk.
No, what’s more likely is that Huawei will try and figure out how to maintain its business, while becoming independent of its US suppliers.
What does that mean? Well, in terms of software, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Huawei launch its own separately-maintained Android fork, where it has absolute control. The company already develops its own Google Play alternatives in China, namely the Huawei AppGallery. It wouldn’t be much of a stretch to see the company develop and market them for a European or Asian audience.
Huawei is probably the only company, besides perhaps Samsung, that’s able to re-imagine and re-design Android from scratch. It’s got the money, and crucially, it’s also got a small army of R&D workers who have the skills and vision to bring a post-Google Android to life.
This would be interesting because it’s almost certainly guaranteed to be successful. For starters, this would be a well-resourced effort, thanks to Huawei’s deep pockets. Huawei would also likely convince other Chinese manufacturers – like, for example, ZTE – to jump ship to an Android ecosystem where they’re in control.
And, for what it’s worth, there’s been rumblings that the company is working on alternatives to Android and Windows for a long time.
There are some pretty major downsides to this, however. A schism in the Android ecosystem would likely weaken the platform, stifling innovation and giving consumers on either side of the fence a compromised experience. It’d be interesting to see if that manifests itself in things like vulnerability patching and software updates.
And for Huawei, it’d have to sacrifice much of its short-term growth, as it tries to create a brand new Android ecosystem. This would be a hard-fought slog, but arguably one the company is capable of winning.
Of course, it’s not just Google that’s currently prohibited from doing business with Huawei. It’s everyone, and that includes the big American chipmakers like Intel, Broadcom, and Qualcomm. This represents a trickier problem for Huawei. Although the company makes it own SoCs under the HiSilicon line, there’s some dependence on US suppliers. This is more keenly observed on its laptops, rather than its phones.
In the short term, the company has stockpiled enough chips to last it three months. I think, as the trade war between the US and China reached its nadir, Huawei saw the writing on the wall. It knew that it would become collateral damage. Its stockpile should give its business some continuity while it figures out alternatives.
In the medium-term though, that’s where things get tricky. Supply chains are incredibly difficult, and are often planned months in advance. Replacing components often requires radical hardware redesigns and software modifications. I honestly have no idea what’ll happen when Huawei runs out of imported chips. I wouldn’t be surprised if, at least briefly, the company drastically scales back its hardware efforts.
Fortunately for Huawei, China’s government is trying to move away from imported technologies. The country is currently touting an initiative called Made in China 2025, which will see it pivot from low-value, low-quality goods, to manufacturing complicated, domestically-designed products. These include things like robots, semiconductors, and even passenger aircraft.
China’s government is working hard to cut American companies out of its tech landscape. And given the current woes engulfing Huawei, you can’t really blame it, can you?
precious little information since 2015, don't you think?
Apparently one C919 flew in 2017.
It really hasn't been heard of since then, except for the occasional accusation of being a knock off Airbus 320, assembled by parts from around the globe.
This more recent article states that they might be certified by 2021, but don't even have a supplier for engines, nor have they begun negotiations yet.
Yes it does truly sound like the 737MAx and Airbus320 all over again...
And Boeing built a plant in China as Comacs partner
assembling and painting Boeing 737s
which could also be said to have been "made in China".
this article is also from 2015
This one from Dec 2018 implies that the COMAC plant only finishes the planes interior and paints them.
Airliners are not a simple product. They are the sum of a huge number of skills.
It's easier to imagine Huawei competing with Apple, than COMAC with Boeing.
What about "anti-hijack" procedures? Check in and check out?
In Occident, it's not hard to spend almost as much time waiting in lines, as in flight.
How long for an internal flight? International flight?
Simple curiosity. We're saddled with TSA and it's ever-changing whims: shoes?, camera?, e-reader?, what has to be put separately on the rollers?
I know TSA has a thankless task, but the agency doesn't seem very interested in "the customer experience". I was wondering how it is in China.
Just about identical...
Have you ever tried to return defective chinese made products here in the states? plus I heard delivery of the new chinese 737 max knock-offs were delayed due to a software issue related to aircraft.stall speed.
I had a lot of trouble with Chinese high pressure brass fittings leaking. Then we could not get the testing lab to approve them because metal content varied. I finally used all US made stainless steel, cost more but I could get that certified.
the company I worked for 8 years ago caught our chinese supplier adding lead to their component a half dozen times in two years despite our specified chemical formulation. lead usage in the construction industry is highly regulated in the US and was prohibited in our application. we confronted them the first few times and soon realized our rep's job was to lie to us when he wasn't stealing from us. we finally decided to have it made domestic after the chinese made product savings were getting eaten up by the lab costs of testing every shipment we got from them. 2 years after we dumped them, we found out they had knocked off products from all of their US clients, so we turned them in to the EPA.