In a recent blow to Huawei, Google has suspended business with the Chinese tech giant following a blacklist order from the US.
Complying with the executive order from President Trump, Google is suspending business with Huawei that requires the transfer of hardware, software and technical services. However, publicly available services through open source licensing will still be available to Huawei.
“We are complying with the order and reviewing the implications. For users of our services, Google Play and the security protections from Google Play Protect will continue to function on existing Huawei devices,” said a spokesperson from Google.
Users with current Huawei devices will still be able to use Google’s apps and updates, but the next versions of their smartphones will lose access to Google’s operating system (Android) and popular applications including Google Play Store, YouTube, Gmail, etc.
Furthermore, chipmakers including Intel, Qualcomm, Xilinx, and Broadcom have told their employees that they will not be supplying chips to Huawei until further notice.
This move from Google comes after the Trump administration officially added the telecoms manufacturer to a trade blacklist last week, declaring a national economic emergency to ban the technology and services of “foreign adversaries”. The blacklist quickly led to restrictions that would prevent the Chinese tech company from doing business with US companies.
It bears mentioning that it isn’t Google’s choice to pull Android support from Huawei, rather, the company has been forced to do so under United States law.
This is a major hit for Huawei as it could seriously cripple the company’s smartphone business all across the globe. Huawei hasn’t commented much on the subject as of yet, saying only that it is going to be “fine”.
