US authorities have officially forbidden Qualcomm from supplying components to Huawei Technologies. Qualcomm, until recently, held the rights to provide Huawei with 4G solutions because of an export license granted during Donald Trump’s presidency. Even though it ceased delivering components to Huawei this year, Qualcomm will continue to receive payments as part of its licensing fees.
As reported by Tom’s Hardware, Qualcomm official documents outlined that the company lost the export license on May 7, which authorized it to supply Huawei Device Co. with not only 4G supportive components but also Wi-Fi solutions. Even before the revocation of its export license on May 1, Qualcomm announced that it would not expect any revenue from Huawei for any component supplies beyond the calendar year 2024. Essentially, the supply of relevant chips would have ceased anyway, factoring into Qualcomm’s strategic plans.
However, Qualcomm will retain the ability to receive licensing fees from Huawei for using its patented technologies in domestic products. An equal measure of such relationships exists with other Chinese electronic manufacturers and the associated licensing agreements will be extended in 2025 or initiated, depending on the specific situations.
According to Chinese media outlets, Huawei’s CFO, Meng Wanzhou, has also confirmed the company’s plans to forgo purchasing Qualcomm’s processors and other components this week in favor of not just in-house products but also supplies from other providers. Considering Huawei has been unable to receive 5G components from Qualcomm for quite some time, they have therefore found replacements, including the successful development of their own components with desired features. The Qualcomm license revocation will not significantly affect Huawei’s business, clarified a representative from the Chinese tech giant.
