Earlier this month, the US Commerce Department was looking to grant exemption licenses to companies hoping to trade with Huawei. More than 300 American companies applied for this license with Google being one of them.
Microsoft’s application for this license has just been approved by the US Commerce Department, meaning that the software giant will now be able to resume exporting mass-market software to Huawei.
Microsoft hasn’t mentioned any specifics on what this license will allow, such as Windows or Office, but the wording suggests that the American tech giant now has a general license to export all consumer software rather than anything particular.
This move should help bring life back to Huawei’s Matebook series of laptops. The series was hit hard by the US ban with Huawei being forced to cancel a launch for one of the laptops. This license means that the Matebook series can offer Windows and other Microsoft services in future laptops.
Intel was also a huge part of Huawei’s Matebook dilemma as the American chipmaker was forced to halt trade with the Chinese firm. The company confirmed earlier that it has also applied for the exemption license to continue selling general-purpose computer chips to Huawei. The chipmaker is yet to receive approval from the US Commerce Department.
While Microsoft’s clearance for trade is a welcome move for Huawei, it still remains to be seen whether Google and Intel will receive a similar approval.
