Huawei hopes Qualcomm will supply it with chips despite US embargo
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According to the rotating Huawei chairman, Qualcomm has applied for a license from the US government to sell its smartphone chips to the Chinese giant. If the request is accepted, Qualcomm would get its hands on a financial windfall and Huawei would make sure it continued production of smartphones.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
The US-Huawei politico-commercial soap opera has been part of tech news for over a year. More exactly since the embargo put in place by the Trump administration, notably depriving Huawei phones of Google services. The situation worsened more recently when Washington tightened its restrictions.
QUALCOMM TO THE RESCUE?
No more companies - even foreign ones - using American technologies or components were indeed allowed to work with Huawei. Consequences: the TSMC group, which previously supplied the Kirin chips to HiSilicon (a subsidiary of Huawei), no longer had the right to collaborate with. Problem: Huawei smartphones were equipped with the famous Kirin SoCs.
Huawei p40 lite
The back of the Huawei P40 Lite // Source: Frandroid
What is the solution for Huawei? An American giant could obtain a special license from the government allowing it to design chips for the Chinese group's mobile devices. And that’s exactly what is trying to land the all-time go-to Qualcomm, according to CNBC.
According to the rotating president of Huawei, in the person of Guo Ping, Qualcomm applied for a license from the government to supply Huawei with chips. If the request is successful, then the Middle Empire group would agree to use Qualcomm's components in their mobile devices.
SEVERAL SUPPLIERS ON THE SHOT
Such a turnaround would ensure Guo Ping and his teams to continue producing phones, inevitably endangered since the tightening of US sanctions. So much so that a scenario whereby Huawei could withdraw from the smartphone market had even been mentioned.
Mediatek is also one of the contenders
Mediatek is also one of the contenders // Source: MediaTek
All this turmoil inevitably attracts envy with regard to the immense financial stakes. Qualcomm is not alone at the time, as AMD and MediaTek have also positioned themselves on the file in an attempt to secure a partner firmly established in the market.
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Even in a corner, Huawei won't give up its Kirin chips so easily
For Qualcomm, this is the second offensive after already putting pressure on the US government last August, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Still, this will not be enough to bring Google services back to Huawei devices.
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