Qualcomm has received a license from the United States government to sell 4G mobile phone chips to Huawei Tech which will be an exemption to United States trade restrictions that were imposed between increasing tensions with China.
The company, Qualcomm, and every other American semiconductor firm were forced to stop selling to Huawei in September after trade restrictions in the United States of America took effect.
The spokeswoman has rejected to comment on the certain 4G items that Qualcomm can sell to Huawei but she said that they were related to mobile devices. Qualcomm has other license applications that are pending with the United States government.
Image from Qualcomm
In the past, the Chinese company was a relatively small chip customer for Qualcomm. Then Huawei used its own designed chips in its flagship handsets but used the American company’s chips in lower-priced models.
Huawei’s latent to structure its own chips was dissatisfied in the month of September by United States trade restrictions that congested its access to chip design software and fabrication tools. As per the industry analysts, they believe that Huawei’s stockpile of chips which were bought before the ban could run out at the beginning of 2021, which will cripple Huawei’s smartphone business.
Also, the Qualcomm license would have less impact as it just covers 4G chips whereas the consumers are shifting to fresher 5G devices. It is also not clear if the United States officials will give Qualcomm licenses for 5G smartphone chips.
Representatives for Huawei as well as the United States Commerce Department did not instantly return requests for comment. Their role is to provide licenses.
Other United States firms like Micron Technology were further immobile from selling to Huawei and have said they have applied for licenses. Other firms like Intel has also said it has a license to sell to the Chinese company, Huawei.
