Google cuts off Huawei’s access
Move limits Chinese tech from Android after Trump order
The Chinese technology giant Huawei on Monday began to feel painful ripple effects of a U.S. order that effectively bars American firms from selling components and software to the company.
The companies said that Google was cutting off support to Huawei for many Android hardware and software services. The move, a response to the administration’s order last week, could hamstring Huawei, the world’s second-largest smartphone-maker, by restricting its access to future versions of the Android operating system. Google is also limiting access to popular applications like Maps, Gmail and the Google Play store in future Huawei handsets.
By isolating Huawei, President Donald Trump’s administration is escalating its dispute with Beijing and harming a company that U.S. authorities have accused of posing a national security risk, claims that Huawei has vehemently denied. After struggling to convince allies like Britain and Germany to block the use of Huawei telecommunications equipment, the United States is now undermining the Chinese company’s business by moving to cut it off from crucial American suppliers, including the makers of semiconductors.
The quick action by Google shows how some of the world’s largest companies are entangled in the growing cold war between the United States and China over technology and trade. The global technology industry has flourished in part because of the borderless nature of its digital products and services. It is now scrambling to account for the potential damage of a trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.
Google’s change applies to new Huawei devices and future versions of the Android operating system. Security and feature updates will still be available for Huawei us
ers with Google apps already loaded on their devices.
“We are complying with the order and reviewing the implications,” Google said. The company’s decision to halt work with Huawei was first reported by Reuters.
By adhering to the Commerce Department’s order, Google is undercutting ties with an important and fastgrowing partner. Huawei’s smartphone sales in the year’s first quarter grew 50% compared with the same period a year earlier, even as the broader handset market stagnated, according to the market research firm IDC. Google gets revenue from ads that are shown with the apps carried on Huawei devices.
Huawei smartphones and some of its other products have effectively been kept out of the United States for years, but the company’s business has grown rapidly in Africa, Asia and Europe, where its affordable prices have been embraced by consumers and by phone companies that use its antennas, base stations and other equipment to make wireless networks.
Trump last week issued a ban prohibiting American telecommunications firms
from installing foreign-made equipment that could threaten national security. The order instructed Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to stop transactions “posing an unacceptable risk.” Although the order did not single out specific companies, it was widely believed to be directed at Huawei and others in China’s tech sector.
On the same day, the Commerce Department added Huawei to a list of companies deemed to be national security risks, effectively preventing it from buying or licensing American parts and technology without special permission from Washington.
Since then, chip makers, including the German supplier Infineon, have said they would restrict their business dealings with Huawei.
“In any market where Infineon operates, we fully comply with all applicable legal requirements, laws and regulations,” the company said in a statement.
Intel and Qualcomm, two of the world’s largest makers of chips, have also told employees to cease working with Huawei until further notice, according to Bloomberg.
Intel declined to comment and Qualcomm did not respond to requests for comment.
On Monday, shares in Qualcomm and Infineon were trading about 5% lower. Intel was down more than 1%. Shares in Alphabet, Google’s parent, were down about 1.6%.
China has not said whether it plans to retaliate against the United States in response to Trump’s move. Investors sent shares of Apple down more than 3% in trading Monday amid concerns that the company’s dependence on China to manufacture and sell iPhones made it a potential target.
Huawei has not said how it plans to respond to the Trump administration’s order, but on Monday the Chinese government suggested the possibility of a legal challenge.
Asked about Google’s decision at a regularly scheduled news briefing Monday, Lu Kang, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, “China encourages Chinese companies to take up legal weapons to defend their own legitimate rights.”
In a statement, Huawei said, “We have made substantial contributions to the development and growth of Android around the world. As one of Android’s key global partners, we have worked closely with their open-source platform to develop an ecosystem that has benefited both users and the industry.”