U.S. rules cast doubt on Huawei launches
Canadian telecoms seek answers as carriers in Asia and U.K. bow out
New restrictions that limit the ability of American companies to export U.S. technology to Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co. are causing some carriers to suspend the launch of their smartphones.
Mobile carriers in Asia and the U.K. announced this week that they were shelving plans to launch new handsets by Huawei, but service providers in Canada are still trying to gauge the full effect of the restrictions on their lineups.
In a statement, Telus Corp. said it has “reached out to our partners at Google Canada and Huawei Canada to understand the full implications of these developments and will advise our customers who use Huawei devices once we know more.”
“We have been in touch with both companies,” Rogers Communications said, adding “we will continue to share information with our customers as it becomes available.”
Aspokesperson for Bell Canada meanwhile, said the company “wouldn’t comment on our future device lineup.”
Mobile phone service providers in Japan, Taiwan and Britain on Wednesday said they had stopped taking early orders for new smartphone models from the company or had ditched plans to offer handsets equipped for fifth generation wireless networks.
There have also been anecdotal reports of consumers attempting to trade in Huawei hardware.
Huawei phone sales have surged in Canada over the past two years thanks to competitive pricing, a popular camera
and other high-end features, said IDC Canada mobility senior analyst Steve Yang.
Yang added Huawei’s market share jumped to about 6 per cent from less than 3 per cent over the period.
He said Huawei has leapfrogged brands including BlackBerry to become the country’s third most popular smartphone after Apple and Samsung.
Worldwide, Huawei is now the the second-largest smartphone vendor after Samsung.
Device shipments were up 50 per cent in the first quarter, bucking a slump in the broader market, but Yang said those gains could be reversed if the Trump administration’s ban on exports to Huawei by U.S. suppliers amid a broader U.S.-China trade conflict is fully implemented.
That would cut off the latest Huawei phones, tablets and laptops from access to U.S.made microprocessor unit computer chip sets and software updates from American vendors including Google’s Android.
“The big question will come to whether people prefer the handset or the software,” said Emily Taylor, a U.K.-based cyber security expert and CEO of Oxford Information Labs.
She said the restricted access to U.S. technology will accelerate development of Chinesemade mobile operating software and chip sets, adding that consumers could also opt to access Google software via their browsers if the export ban puts the Android mobile operating system app off limits.
“There’s no reason why Huawei can’t use a different OS,” she said. “It doesn’t have to use Android or it can adapt open source from the base kit.” Taylor also suggested that the most significant security vulnerability in Huawei offerings is in “buggy software” rather than any intention to commit espionage.
Google this week said it would continue to support existing Huawei smartphones, but future devices will not have its flagship apps and services, including maps, Gmail and search, with only basic services available.
Huawei said Tuesday that its proprietary operating system will be available to the public between this fall and the spring of 2020.
Huawei in a statement added it will “continue to provide security updates and after-sales services to all existing Huawei and Honor smartphone and tablet products covering those that have been sold or (are) still in stock globally.” The company has also said that it has stockpiled chips and other vital components.
Citing national security imperatives, the U.S. Commerce Department last week said companies wishing to export U.S. technology to Huawei must apply for a licence — which the department indicated would be hard to secure.
On the same day, U.S. President Donald Trump said he had signed an executive order enabling the U.S. to ban telecommunications network gear and services from “foreign adversaries.”
Separately, Ottawa, is considering a ban on Huawei equipment that Telus said could set back its launch of 5G — although Bell Canada says the move would not impact its plans.
It’s not yet clear how consumers will react to the U.S.-led campaign against Huawei.