It has been a falling row of dominoes for Huawei in a week.
After the Executive Order signed by Trump for telecommunications security, which leads to Huawei being placed in the Entity List, US companies that work with Huawei have been queuing up to announce their termination of services to Huawei, with Google starting the ball rolling.
Just for some of you who’ve lost track, here’s a list of the more important technology:
- Google, which needs no explanation
- Several chipmakers like Intel, Qualcomm, Broadcom and Xilinx had reportedly told staff not to supply Huawei with any supply until further notice. Huawei depends on these chips to make their laptops, and Qualcomm chips for their phones. The China giant has already stockpiled a number of chips and is going to design their own chips
- UK-based chip designer ARM also suspended contracts with Huawei. This is a rather big blow because Huawei needs a license from ARM to produce chips that are not easily replaceable, as it would take years and billions of dollars to come out with the technology
And now, Huawei has lost another two partners.
Wi-FI Alliance & SD
Huawei users, don’t panic (yet); Wi-Fi Alliance isn’t Wi-Fi per se, but an organisation that that promotes and certifies Wi-FI technology. They comprise a group of companies like Apple or Intel that have influence over new Wi-Fi technology globally.
The organization has revoked Huawei’s membership, adding with this statement:
“Wi-Fi Alliance is fully complying with the recent U.S. Department of Commerce order without revoking Huawei Technologies membership. Wi-Fi Alliance has temporarily restricted Huawei Technologies participation in Wi-Fi Alliance activities covered by the order.”
While there wouldn’t be any short-term effects, the repercussions would come in the future: Huawei would become less competitive in developing Wi-Fi technology, and therefore could see them using less-than-developed Wi-Fi technology in future devices.
In addition, the China giant is also losing its membership in the SD Association: and yes, we’re talking about the SD in SD cards.
Technically speaking, if Huawei isn’t in SD Association, they can’t use SD cards or produce devices that support SD cards. This isn’t good news for Huawei, since most of us are using SD cards.
However, Huawei has said that the “use of SD cards on Huawei smartphone won’t be affected….consumers can continue purchasing and using these products.”
Obviously, Huawei has already developed their own “SD cards” called NanoMemory, but the question is the compatibility on other non-Huawei devices, and whether retailers would stock memory cards that can only be used in Huawei devices.
But with people using the cloud more often nowadays, this might not have serious repercussions.
The next technology is much more serious.
Bluetooth
Back in the days, Bluetooth was considered a high-tech way to transfer data. But soon, with new technology, Bluetooth nearly become obsolete until wireless earphones came into existence.
Nowadays, Bluetooth is essential for every device: your game controller is connected via Bluetooth, your wireless earphones are always connected to your phone via Bluetooth and your smartwatch is paired with your smartphone via Bluetooth.
A phone without Bluetooth would be a Nokia 3310: one that’s connected with many cables.
Bluetooth is a technology, but it’s overseen by a non-profit organization, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG). They might not manufacture Bluetooth devices or chips, but they grant licenses to manufacturers using the Bluetooth technology.
According to Android Police, no competing technology exists so far, but even if Huawei comes out with a technology that works like Bluetooth, it’s a matter of compatibility (again) with other non-Huawei devices.
This could cripple the China giant altogether—and even render those Huawei phones in China useless.
Now, one thing to note is that Bluetooth SIG hasn’t made any move yet—and Android Police has contacted them for more info, which we’ll get an answer soon.
Because if Bluetooth’s really gone, then I reckon my friend’s going to sell his Huawei phone liao. Or he can go back to using wired earphones.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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