Huawei Executive Says ‘Survival Is The Goal’ Amid US Ban

Huawei executive Guo Ping said the company is struggling to survive because of policies enacted by the U.S. that have left its business in trouble. Bans on U.S. companies working with Huawei have meant one of the company’s biggest markets is off limits.

With international partners also cautious of adopting Huawei’s 5G technology, the Chinese tech giant has faced mounting problems. As reported by CNN, the company’s rotating chief executive spoke at a press conference and presented a dire picture for the multinational corporation.

“Huawei is in a difficult situation these days. Nonstop aggression from the US government has put us under significant pressure… Right now, survival is the goal.”

Under the Trump administration, the White House has been a staunch critic of Huawei and other Chinese companies. Much of the pressure came from Washington extending bans on American firms working with the organization. New sanctions introduced in May and August restrict the company from using U.S.-based computer chips.

Those chips are important for the manufacturing of 5G networking equipment and mobile devices. Any semiconductor company using American technology is unable to sell to the Chinese company directly. Without access to manufacturers in the U.S., Huawei is increasingly adrift in the market.

The U.S. Commerce Department allows for companies to apply for a special license to sell to Huawei, but regulators have deemed the company a national security risk. The Trump administration has maintained the corporation passes information to the government in China. The tech giant has frequently refuted the accusations.

Guo pointed to “attacks” from the U.S., stating they hamper the company’s progress and threaten its existence.

“The United States has been continuously attacking us and [the latest restriction] has posed great challenges to our operations,” he said.

While one of China’s biggest companies is facing a semiconductor supply problem in the future, analysts believe there are stockpiles to last until the end of this year. CNBC noted in August that once this stockpile is exhausted, Huawei will be left with few options.

Huawei was previously one of the biggest global buyers of mobile chipsets, purchasing hundreds of millions for its smartphones each year, which raised the question of how chipmakers will cope with losing one of their biggest customers.

As reported in WCCFtech, CPU giant AMD says its business will not be affected.

“We are a 100% committed to complying with regulations, and we’ve taken what we feel are the appropriate steps to ensure that we’re managing the Entity List in our interaction with customers or potential customers that might be on the Entity List appropriately. Based on the licenses that we’ve been able to secure, we don’t expect to see a significant impact on our business at this time.”

In July, The Inquisitr reported that U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was angered by Trump’s stance on Huawei and hopes he loses this year’s election. The U.K. had plans to use the company to roll out 5G infrastructure, but pressure from the U.S. government saw the deal canceled.