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With the latest US sanctions set to deal a serious blow, MediaTek is seeking the green light from the US to continue its business with Huawei
This month saw the Trump administration tighten its sanctions against Huawei, closing potential loopholes that would allow the Chinese vendor to buy US technology via third parties.
This move not only dealt the latest of many devastating blows to Huawei, but to their entire supply chain.
The world’s largest semiconductor company, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), had already said that it would cease to supply Huawei when the sanctions came into effect in September, and the addition of the latest measures will make it even more difficult for much of Huawei’s supply chain to work with the Chinese giant.
Analysts speculate that Taiwan’s MediaTek is set to be one of the hardest hit of Huawei’s semiconductor suppliers. Since TSMC announced it would take no more orders from Huawei, MediaTek has been serving to fill the gap, at least in part. But with the latest sanctions, any new business they may have gained is about to go up in smoke as their access to US tech is suddenly cut off.
As a result, it is perhaps unsurprising that it is today being reported that MediaTek having reached out to the US to procure a licence in order to continue sales to Huawei.
In a brief statement, MediaTek repeated its “respect for following relevant orders and rules on global trade, and has already applied for permission with the US side in accordance with the rules”.
Whether the US will permit MediaTek to continue supplying Huawei has yet to be seen, but seems highly unlikely; until now, the administration has shown little appetite for half-measures and will likely seek to hit Huawei as hard as possible through its sanctions.
But it is not only foreign suppliers who are applying to the US to continue working with Huawei. Indeed, the US’ domestic semiconductor industry is being hit too, with Qualcomm applying for a licence to continue their sales earlier this month.
While the latest sanctions are almost certainly damaging Huawei more than domestic US industry, they are still something of a double-edged sword, the true impact of which we shall not know for some months.
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