US provides Qualcomm’s approval, allowing it to sell 4G chips to Huawei – American companies were banned by the Commerce Department from doing business with Huawei.
The U.S. has granted Qualcomm permission to sell 4G mobile chips to Huawei. This is presented as an exemption from the government’s prohibition implicit in doing business with the Chinese company. In general, Qualcomm is allowed to sell mobile devices to Huawei.
An executive order was issued by the White House in May 2019, banning U.S. companies they are not allowed doing business with Chinese companies like Huawei, for national security reasons. The United States began to attract foreign semiconductor manufacturers to obtain a license that would allow them to sell chips. Even though they are not designed to Huawei’s specifications, they were made primarily for use by the Chinese company.
Due to U.S. sanctions, Huawei said it was short of processor chips. Despite these U.S. sanctions, Huawei soon became the largest smartphone supplier in the world in July. This was due to its strong sales in China. However, last month, it lost its first place to Samsung. Huawei’s shipment fell 24 percent year-over-year in October. On the contrary, Samsung faced a 47% increase in sales.
The license provided by Qualcomm covers up to 4G chips according to the Reuters report. It is not clear whether this license would apply to 5G chips that can be included in newer devices.
