Huawei face backlash from Microsoft and ARM after US trade ban

Huawei is set to face yet another major setback after President Trump’s executive order called for a clampdown on Chinese technology companies. Less than a week after Google announced that it would revoke Huawei’s Android licence; two leading tech giants are about to follow suit.

Huawei’s business may be under threat from both Microsoft and ARM as both companies gear up to act on the recent White House order. Microsoft appears to have stopped selling Huawei notebooks on its online stores, while ARM has suspended business with the Chinese tech giant.

Currently searching for any Huawei hardware on Microsoft’s online store in the US won’t yield any results. On the other hand, Microsoft has remained silent on whether it would allow Huawei to obtain Windows licenses for its laptops. Revoking Huawei’s Windows OS license would have more adverse effects in Huawei’s server solutions.

But while removing Huawei hardware from the Microsoft store maybe bad, it isn’t nearly as bad as ARM suspending business with Huawei. The current suspension will prevent Huawei from building its own processors that are based on ARM designs and its HiSilicon fabless semiconductor company.

With Google revoking Huawei’s Android license and ARM suspending its business; the Chinese tech giant is set to face major setbacks on both the software and hardware front. And, while Huawei might be coming up with its own OS as an alternative to Android, but manufacturing chips seems to be out of the question.

An ARM spokesperson in a statement to The Verge mentioned: “ARM is complying with the latest restrictions set forth by the US government and is having ongoing conversations with the appropriate US government agencies to ensure we remain compliant.”

Hardware isn’t the only issue Huawei is facing in lieu of the suspension.

Interestingly, unlike Microsoft and Google, ARM isn’t a US-based company; it is based in the United Kingdom and owned by the Japanese SoftBank group. The US trade ban seems like it's having far-reaching implications on Huawei’s business on all fronts at the moment.