The battle between Huawei and the United States will be settled on 15 September
The battle between Huawei and the United States will be settled on 15 September. This date marks the end of the access that the Chinese company has to the technologies developed by the United States due to Washington's sanctions, according to Android Headlines, citing a report by the analyst of the financial services group Tiafeng International, Ming-Chi Kuo. Huawei is in a confrontation with the United States, which it accuses of spying for the Chinese government through its devices, something the company has always denied. Last year, Washington cut off the Chinese company's access to American components and technology, including Google Music and other services. These restrictions were tightened in May when the White House banned suppliers worldwide from using US technology to produce components for Huawei.
In addition, the sanctions will force the Chinese technology giant to stop manufacturing the chipsets that power its flagship smartphones from 15 September. The report stresses that Taiwanese company MediaTek can save the situation, and has already requested permission to supply the chips to Huawei after September 15. However, even if the request is approved, the US sanctions will have a very significant effect on the Chinese company's activities. At best, as Min-Chi Kou specifies, Huawei's share will decrease. In the worst case, it will stop producing smart phones and its competitors could fill the gap.
Despite this, this move will not be easy. Huawei has higher standards for the camera, better storage and specifications for 5G chip parts, as the analyst stressed in his report. This also means a higher price compared to other brands that also make smartphones. Innovations in this segment could suffer. If Huawei's market share falls, so will its contributions to innovation in camera, storage or 5G chip technology, the report says. In addition, this could have an effect on price reductions in 2021. Since smartphone manufacturers cannot create new developments, the only advantage will be to lower the prices of the devices.
The Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei has insisted this Thursday at the IFA technology fair in Berlin on its "commitment" to Europe, at a time when its eagerness to deploy its 5G networks across the old continent is being called into question for political reasons.
The President for Europe of Huawei's Consumer Division, Walter Ji, stressed in a presentation at Europe's largest technology event that his company is "more European than many people think" and that it is "committed to protecting and respecting the privacy" of users. "We never share our users' information", Ji said in response to the doubts raised in the West by the Chinese law that obliges technology companies to share their users' information with the government and security forces if they are required to do so. This was the focus of the United States' campaign against Huawei's commercial offensive to deploy its fifth-generation (5G) telecommunications networks in the West, systems that offer greater capacity and speed than the current ones.
There is no common position in Europe on this matter at present, with countries more open to letting Huawei install 5G on their territory and others openly opposed. Halfway through, a third group wants to limit its action to non-essential elements of the telecommunications networks. Mr Ji pointed out that the company employs some 14,000 people throughout Europe and has invested a total of EUR 1 billion in research and development on the continent over the last decade.
