Because of U.S. sanctions: will Huawei only develop software?
26/5/2021
Translation: Eva Francis
The Chinese tech giant is aiming to save itself for the future by concentrating on software development. This appears to emerge from an internal memo.
Chinese tech giant Huawei is suffering from U.S. sanctions. This shall now change. In the future, the company intends to focus more on developing software. Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has urged the company's employees to «dare to lead the world» when it comes to software development. This is stated in an internal memo, as Reuters reports.
Is this the end of Huawei as a hardware manufacturer?
Response to immense pressure
The internal memo obtained by Reuters is the clearest evidence yet of Huawei's realignment. It’s the tech company’s response to the immense pressure that sanctions have put on its smartphone business – the former heart of the company.
Company founder Ren said in the internal memo that the company is focusing on software because future development in that area is fundamentally «outside of U.S. control and we will have greater independence and autonomy».
Given the difficulty of operating in the United States, Ren said in his memo that the company aims to strengthen its position at home and expand its territory with the option of excluding the United States.
Since it will be difficult for Huawei to produce competitive hardware in the short term, the company should focus on building software ecosystems. The note mentions the company's own HarmonyOS operating system, as well as its in-house cloud AI system Mindspore and other IT products.
No indications of sanctions being lifted
Former U.S. President Donald Trump blacklisted Huawei from exports in 2019, denying the company access to critical technology from the United States. This prevents Huawei from developing its own chips and sourcing components from third-party suppliers.
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has given no indication that it will lift Trump's sanctions. The blacklist also meant that Google wasn’t allowed to provide support for new Huawei phone models. In addition, this also prohibited access to Google Mobile Services and the developer services. This is very drastic for Huawei, since most Android apps are based on these services.
Ren also said the software push depended on finding the right business model. He stated to prefer the open source approach.
Richard Müller
Teamleader Editorial
Richard.Mueller@digitecgalaxus.chI'm a journalist with over 20 years of experience in various positions, mostly in online journalism. The tool I rely on for my work? A laptop – preferably connected to the Internet. In fact, I also enjoy taking apart laptops and PCs, repairing and refitting them. Why? Because it's fun!