The US Government has Reportedly Revoked Intel and Qualcomm’s Export Licenses to Huawei
According to Reuters, the US government has withdrawn the export licenses of Intel and Qualcomm, which allowed these companies to sell chipsets to Huawei. Reuters cites three people familiar with this action.
Another source informed the news agency that the companies involved in this matter were notified on Tuesday, May 7th, that their licenses had been revoked, effective immediately. Reportedly, the US Department of Commerce has confirmed the revocation of certain licenses to Huawei, but it did not disclose any further details.
The Recently Launched MateBook Series Is Said to Have Triggered This Move
Huawei launched the MateBook X Pro laptop last month in China, which is powered by Intel’s Core Ultra 9 chipset. The chipset launched a few months back and is a premium mobile processor that rivals the likes of Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and the new Apple M4. The MateBook X Pro also benefits from the Core Ultra 9’s AI capabilities.
Following the laptop’s launch, Republican lawmakers in the US appeared dissatisfied and approached the Biden administration for action, which is said to have triggered the ban.
Reacting to it, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that “China resolutely opposes the United States overstressing the concept of national security and abusing export controls to suppress Chinese companies without justification.”
Huawei’s Smartphone Business Would Largely Stay Unaffected
Following Huawei’s initial sanctions, the US Government allowed Huawei to use Qualcomm’s 4G chipsets in its smartphones. With the recent move, though, it’s unclear whether it would still be allowed to do so.
Thankfully for Huawei, it has transitioned into using its own in-house Kirin chipsets with 5G in almost its entire smartphone lineup. Even Snapdragon stated in its regulatory filing some days back that it doesn’t expect any revenue from Huawei from next year. Huawei’s laptop business will be significantly affected if it doesn’t figure out a workaround soon.
Huawei’s MateBook Laptops Has Been Performing Well
Huawei has a significant portfolio of products besides smartphones, with laptops being amongst the most prominent. Its MateBook range has been performing well – just yesterday, it launched the MateBook X Pro and MateBook 14 globally.
That said, the future remains uncertain for Huawei. Since the revocation of licenses is already effective, how Huawei reacts following the global launch of its laptops remains to be seen. We’ll have to wait for an official statement from the company to learn more.
