It’s pretty much obvious that the Trump administration is in no mood to let Huawei flourish. Another thing that speaks for itself is that Huawei currently is the second largest smartphone manufacturer surpassing Apple and is a serious threat to Samsung as well who are just managing to sit atop the rest.

Smart Phones Global Market Share (Fourth Quarter 2018)

  1. Samsung: 23.1%
  2. Huawei: 19%
  3. Apple: 11.7%

Source: www.statista.com

The battle between Huawei and the US government

The allegations made by the US that the mobile company has some ties with the Chinese government and is using the technology to spy on the US can be detrimental for Huawei.

It basically also seems to converge towards the rollout of 5G technology. Major countries like the US, China are in the race of being ready to roll out the technology. The US is reportedly trying to sabotage all the chances that Hwawei has to be the most competitive company in this endeavour, which it actually seems to be.

In a recent report(5G readiness index), published by www.ctia.org, China holds the first position closely followed by South Korea and the US.

The battle between Huawei and the US government
5G Readiness Global Index

When did it all start?

In 2012 a report was released by the US House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee under the Barack Obama administration which expressed Huawei creating issues of potential threat to the US national security. The report claimed that Huawei and ZTE were possibly working with the Chinese government to spy on the US. Huawei was then contemplating for IPO.

In response to that, the company founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei made a rare public appearance in 2013 to deny the allegations. Since then, this trade war has created some buzz on an off the record.

Recent updates are listed below:

  • December 01, 2018: Meng Wanzhou, the Financial officer of Huawei was apprehended in Canada upon a request by the US with the allegation of selling US technology to Iran against the US law. Canada duly complied.
  • December 06, 2018: China demands the release of Wanzhou stating that she or the company broke no rules to get apprehended.
  • December 07, 2019: Japan decides not to buy Huawei equipment.
  • December 08-09, 2018: China detains two Canadian which was believed to in response to Wanzhou’s arrest.
  • December 11, 2018: Meng Wanzhou released with an agreement to wear an ankle monitor and submit her passports.
  • December 24, 2019: Huawei’s growth remain unaffected, exceeds 200 M smartphone shipments.
  • January 08, 2019: Huawei represents itself in CES 2019 with laptops and tablets but no smartphones.
  • January 15, 2019: Huawei sacks an employee who was arrested in Poland over the alleged spying.
  • January 22, 2019: China demands the US to withdraw the arrest warrant for Wanzhou.
  • January 28, 2019: The US State Department not only alleges that Huawei has violated the law, it furthermore blames of theft of trade secrets.
  • January 29, 2019:  The US Department of Justice charged Huawei for theft of trade secrets, wire fraud, and obstruction of Justice.
  • January 29, 2019: China responds by saying it will always defend its companies and demands to stop the US’s hostility on their companies.
  • February 06, 2019: The US request all the European countries to avoid Huawei equipment in their 5G rollouts.
  • February 17, 2019: To the US’s surprise, UK says that the use of Huawei in 5G is a manageable risk.
  • February 19, 2019: Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei interview to BBC. Says the US can never crush us.
  • March 01, 2019: The US warns the Philippines against the use of Huawei 5G equipment
  • March 08, 2019: Huawei files a lawsuit against the US over its equipment ban.
  • March 12, 2019: The US urges Germany to stop Huawei usage or face repercussions.
  • March 14, 2019: Inferring to the possible prohibition by Google to use Android on their phones, Huawei decides to develop its own OS.
  • March 19, 2019: German Chancellor Angela Merkel signals that Germany is disgusted by the US’s pressure to ban Huawei’s technology. They will not ban any single vendors but rather its security for mobile networks.
  • March 29, 2019: Huawei says, the looser’s attitude of the US will not affect them and claims that the US is creating all this unrest because they realise that they cannot compete.
  • May 16: US President Donald Trump Declares a national emergency over IT Threats
  • May 20: Google restricts Huawei to use Android.
  • May 21: Huawei CEO says the US underestimated the company’s strength.

Where is this battle Heading?

Huawei is probably already feeling the heat as Google decides to stop providing its Android support to Huawei.  The users seem to be in a dilemma whether to switch to another brand or wait until this fiasco settles.

The rollout of 5G between the big players will be interesting to witness as China because of Huawei is a major 5G player.

Besides the Google barring, major chip designers and suppliers like Qualcomm and Intel are also deciding to stop doing business with Huawei.

There are a number of telcos in the US itself who are sort of dependent on the Huawei technologies. They might be in some sort of pressure already with this.

The Huawei coming up with its own OS might have some impact on the Android business now that Huawei holds the second spot after Samsung in leading the smartphone sales. Or, the decision to go for new OS might just backfire as the users are so used to Android and Google, that’s for time to decide.

Latest Update:

  • Huawei to roll out its own OS

According to CNBC, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s consumer business said that for the Chinese users, their Operating System for mobile phones and laptops could be launched by fall this year.

For international users, however, the OS could be rolled out in the first or second quarter of 2020.