The repercussions of the US-China trade war hit Huawei straight in the face yesterday, with Google complying with a Trump Executive Order to stop working with the company. This means that the delivery of new software to Huawei and Honor would stop on handsets to be launched, and other US companies are also cutting the supply of hardware to the smartphone manufacturer.
It means that the effects will be felt outside of America, across the world, reducing the choice for customers.
We reached out to Huawei, and Abraham Liu, Huawei’s Chief Representative here in Europe, who responded with the following..
Huawei’s 5G has been co-developed by Europeans and is tailor-made for Europe’s needs and challenges. The way Huawei is treated by the current US administration should worry everybody who cares for the respect of the rule-of-law.
Huawei has been respecting all applicable laws and regulations. Now Huawei is becoming the victim of the bullying by the US administration. This is not just an attack against Huawei. It is an attack on the liberal, rules-based order. This is dangerous.
Now it is happening to Huawei. Tomorrow it can happen to any other international company. Can we shut the eyes to such behaviour?
Indeed, there’s nothing to stop the US blocking other Chinese firms from working with Google or any other US firm. Xiaomi or OnePlus could be next.
Either way, it’s shocking to see how easily this could soon shrink the selection of smartphones available.