The US has been imposing various regulations and trade sanctions on Huawei and even other companies known to be associated with it. In spite of losing access to Google’s version of Android and the chip-building equipment and technologies, Huawei continues to manufacture and sell its products in the country. Currently, the Chinese giant is quickly regaining its lost position in the home country. The latest news is that the FCC will vote to ban Huawei and ZTE from certifying US wireless equipment.
The current position of Huawei in its home country
A recent report from IDC shows that Huawei came on top in terms of foldable smartphone sales in Q1 2024 in China. Just to give you an idea of the company’s current position in its home country, it alone holds an approximately 44% market share in the foldable form factor, where Honor occupies the second place.
Huawei is powering the phones with chips made by China’s SMIC on a 7nm process. This is a two-generation old process node as compared to TSMC’s and Samsung’s. However, even if the products are not topping the benchmarks, they appear to do the job. On the software side, Huawei has developed its alternative to the Play Store. Huawei is developing a new operating system called Harmony OS NEXT. Unlike its previous systems, this one will be based on a different kernel and won’t even support Android apps. High demand and insufficient supply caused its new flagship Pura 70 series to sell out within minutes.
In simple words, Huawei is continuing to do what it was doing in its home country, even with the existing trade sanctions from the US.
FCC plans to vote on a bipartisan proposal to ban Huawei from certifying wireless equipment
The Federal Communications Commission is now taking steps to ensure national security. It will prevent foreign companies from certifying wireless equipment, reported Reuters.
The FCC will vote on a bipartisan proposal this month. It will effectively ban Huawei, ZTE, and other foreign companies that may pose a risk to US national security. The proposal will prevent telecommunications certification bodies and test labs from being influenced by such foreign firms.
According to the FCC, the new proposal will prevent Huawei and others that appear on an FCC list of national security threats “from playing any role in the equipment authorization program”. Reportedly, the US used to recognize Huawei as an accredited lab, which expired this past Tuesday. The FCC denied the company’s request for an extension.