Huawei, a Chinese tech giant, is believed to be engaged in industrial espionage aimed at gathering information in the interest of the Chinese authorities. American President Donald Trump declared that he would not let anyone act as a spy openly. As a result, the US President empowered the government to ban the equipment of this company. In addition, users of Huawei smartphones will no longer be able to update the Android operating system, and the next smartphone generation will lose access to Google services, including the Google Play Store, the Chrome browser, Gmail, YouTube, and Google Maps. When these restrictions are applied, the smartphone will become useless and it is unlikely to attract buyers. By the presidential decree, the US Department of Commerce added Huawei and its 70 branches to a list of firms that are banned from buying parts and components from US companies without the government approval. Given that the company depends on US suppliers, this move is expected to affect its financial performance and lead to disappointing sales of some products.
At present, Huawei is considered to be the second largest manufacturer of smartphones and one of the top five telecommunication equipment producers. At the same time, the company is more than one third dependent on US components, which have not been developed by the Chinese smartphone makers yet. The ban can simply “bury” the once-successful company. However, there is a theory that the situation with Huawei is another bargaining chip in trade negotiations between the US and China. Despite the strong statements, the United States has issued a temporary license allowing the Chinese manufacturer to continue doing business in the United States.
