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It appears that Huawei will soon be able to continue producing products with Qualcomm technology, as the US government has granted an exemption to Qualcomm to sell mobile chips to the Chinese tech giant. According to the Reuters report, a Qualcomm spokeswoman has confirmed that it has received a license from the United States government for various products, including some 4G products.
The spokesperson did not disclose which 4G products are authorized for sale, but they are said to be related to mobile devices. Qualcomm is reported to still have other pending license applications with the US government.
Commenting on the latest developments, Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon says that Qualcomm’s new license would have a very limited impact as it only covers 4G chips, while consumers are switching to newer 5G devices.
With the license, Huawei could produce new smartphones that run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors. This would be imperative for its smartphone business, as Huawei has parted ways with TSMC, a vital supplier for its Kirin chips. The recently introduced Huawei Mate 40 Pro is considered Huawei’s latest flagship smartphone to run on a Kirin processor.
With the limited range, Huawei could have access to Snapdragon 855+, 765, and 732G. While 5G is considered the next big thing, 4G smartphones are still quite relevant in the mid-range segment. In Malaysia, at least, the 5G rollout has been postponed for 1-2 years and Malaysians would still have to wait before there is substantial 5G coverage.
In addition to Qualcomm, other technology companies have also received licenses from the US government, including Microsoft, Intel, AMD, and Samsung. It was previously reported that Google had also requested an exemption to allow Huawei to use its applications and services, but there are no updates on its approval yet. Even if Huawei can make phones with Snapdragon technology, the biggest challenge in global markets remains the lack of Google apps and services.
[ SOURCE 2 ]