Huawei ban

Hey guys, so some of you may have already heard about the Huawei ban by executive order on May 15, 2019, but Huawei was also given a temporary 90-day reprieve on May 20, 2019. We will use this podcast to go over some of the timeline, rumors, and some speculations that are being talked about.

The Huawei Ban and 5G implications

According to cnet.com’s article “Huawei says Trump’s ban will hurt us 5G deployment”, the executive order bans Huawei and prevents transactions between Huawei and US companies. Cnet.com’s focus on the article goes on to discuss that 5G rollout in the US would be affected by the ban.

Now the current leader in 5G technology before the ban and at the time of this episode is Huawei. They are the leading the thrust toward 5G and banning their technology effectively means slowing down 5G rollout until another company is able to step forward with more viable 5G devices. 5G itself is controversial among the public right now but with this ban, the technology looks to be delayed.

The Huawei Ban and Companies that severed ties

According to businessinsider.com’s article, “Here are all the companies that have cut ties with Huawei, dealing the Chinese tech giant a crushing blow”, there are multiple companies and entities that have cut ties with Huawei.

Huawei Ban and Google

Google has pulled the license for the Android operating system and will pull the play store services. This is a major blow because as it currently stands iOS and Android hold the majority of mobile phone operating systems. iOS is exclusive for Apple products and Huawei is losing access to Android. Although the 90-day reprieve does allow temporary access to Android if a long term deal is not made then that would be a huge blow to Huawei.

There have been announcements by Huawei noting they have their own Operating System they have been developing that can replace Android. According to huaweicentral.com’s article, “Huawei ‘Hongmeng OS’ could be known as ‘ARK OS’ globally”, Huawei is set to release their operating system ARK OS later this year under two versions, domestic and global.

source: https://www.cnet.com/news/trump-effectively-bans-huawei-with-national-security-order/

source: https://www.huaweicentral.com/huawei-hongmeng-os-could-be-known-as-ark-os-globally/

Huawei Ban and Chip manufacturers

According to theverge.com’s article, “Intel, Qualcomm, and other chipmakers reportedly join Google in Huawei ban”, Intel, Qualcomm, and Broadcom have stopped supplying Huawei with chips. The article also references that Infineon Technologies, Western Digital, and Micron Technology. It is worth to note that Infineon Technologies is a German company and is not obligated to follow the ban like US companies are. theverge.com’s article does quote Infineon stating that a majority of Huawei shipments are not subject to US export laws so those shipments will continue. The article does note as well that Huawei has been reportedly

Huawei has reportedly been stockpiling some chips in the previous months but reports indicate it’s only a few months worth of chips.

Lastly, the chip designer Arm has also cut ties with Huawei. However, current signed contracts will stay in place which means they will be able to use the chip design to make their chips.

 

source: https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/19/18632075/intel-qualcomm-huawei-ban-us-chipmakers-report

source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-17/huawei-built-at-least-a-three-month-stockpile-ahead-of-trump-ban

source: https://www.cnet.com/news/chip-designer-arm-ditches-huawei-because-of-trump-ban/

Huawei and the Wifi, Bluetooth, and SD alliances yo-yo

Huawei was banned from Wi-fi, SD card, and Bluetooth alliances but the companies membership has now been restored. The wi-fi, sd card, and Bluetooth alliances help mold the future of their respective technology. Now being kicked out of the alliance does not mean they are no longer able to be compatible with the tech but they would have no input in the future of the tech and would not know about the tech ahead of time to properly prep.

Although they were kicked out, the Huawei ban did not last because the alliances have silently readmitted Huawei back in for now.

 

source: https://www.slashgear.com/the-wifi-bluetooth-and-sd-alliances-just-let-huawei-back-in-29578432/

Huawei ban and scientific papers

According to sciencemag.org’s article, “IEEE, a major science publisher, bans Huawei scientists from reviewing papers”, Huawei and its employees are banned from reviewing journal submissions. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE announced the ban and for those who may not be familiar IEEE is a large association geared to toward advancing technology and with the ban, Huawei will not have access to the latest research submission in the technology field.

source: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/05/ieee-major-science-publisher-bans-huawei-scientists-reviewing-papers

 

Huawei’s Ban Hammer and SoftBank’s 5G decision

As well according to theverge.com’s article, “China prepares to strike back at the US as Huawei suffers another loss”, China is reportedly preparing to restrict the export of rare earth metals and create a backlist like the one the US has put Huawei on. If China was to do this it there would be issues. According to the US government’s “Mineral Commodities summary 2019”, China is the largest nonfuel mineral import that the US imports from. A trading loss could result in many earth metals needed for industries like tech, energy, and defense becoming more expensive and in some cases sparse. China appears to be prepping to hit the US back and hit hard.

On the other hand, Japan’s SoftBank announced that it will not be using Huawei for 5G infrastructure and will instead rely on Nokia and Ericsson. This is also a hard blow to Huawei because Huawei was supplying 4G components to SoftBank previously. I’m pretty sure Huawei had assumed that relationship was in better shape than where they are now.

 

source: https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/31/18647021/china-us-trade-war-trump-huawei-rare-earths-embargo-softbank-5g-snub

source: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/u-s-china-trade-war-rare-earth-elements-think-smartphones-n1011561

 

Huawei Ban Wrap Up

If the US ban on Huawei doesn’t get lifted then current US Huawei and Honor phone users will most likely see a shorter support life in terms of android security updates and patches. As well the chances of Huawei switching to the open source android are still there. The problem with switching to the open source Android lies in the fact that the Open Source Android do not have access to the google play store, youtube, Gmail, and several other Google apps that are baked into current Android smartphones. It is necessary for modern smartphones to have access to a steady and updated stream of applications.

We’ve seen the demise of Windows phones because of the lack of app support in the window’s mobile store.

On the other hand, if Huawei does go with its own OS then they face the same issue as well as the fact they have to get developers to develop apps for their platform as well. The fact is if they lose Android as their Operating system it will be a big blow in terms of applications and out of the box functionality.

 

It is noteworthy to mention that the ARM ban would have affected them faster but with them retaining a permanent license to key ARM technology they may be able to come in with chips of their own to run their phone’s hardware.

Overall, the waters are very rough for Huawei right now and only time will tell what really happens to the technology company.

 

This has been your host Lauro, until next episode, I’m logging off.