The trade war between the US and China has perhaps not affected any company more than it has the second-largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. Huawei has faced blow upon blow following US trade sanctions on the company, including a ban on Google’s operating system in their devices, as well as an announcement from Facebook which essentially bans the pre-installation of any app from the Facebook family.
Trade sanctions have forced the Chinese tech manufacturer to adjust its revenue predictions. International smartphone shipments are expected to fall by as much as 40% to 60%, with an expected drop in revenue that saw Huawei adjust their predicted revenue for this year from $125 billion to $100 billion.
However, in a surprising turn of events, some US companies are quietly lobbying the US Congress to ease the Huawei ban, fearing a haemorrhage in their own sales figures.
Reuters has reported that some American chip suppliers, including Qualcomm and Intel, have started pressing the US government to ease the bar on trade between US companies and Huawei. One Reuters source made it clear that the discussions are not necessarily aimed at benefitting Huawei, but rather on protecting US companies from potential loss in revenue, which could amount to billions of dollars.
“This isn’t about helping Huawei,” said the source, “It’s about preventing harm to American companies.”
According to the Reuters report, an estimated $11 billion of the $70 billion that Huawei spent buying components in 2018 went to US firms, “including Qualcomm, Intel and Micron Technology Inc.”