If you thought you were going through a bad week, Huawei’s might have possibly been the worst. After losing its Android license, then being cut off from Intel and Qualcomm and then getting ousted by ARM, the Chinese company’s bad news streak isn’t over yet. Last week’s US executive order to ban Huawei has now been implemented by two more companies – SD Association and WiFi Alliance.
To add to its woes, Huawei has been struck off from being a member of the SD Association which is a group that approves standardised specifications for SD and microSD cards. Being barred from the group means, Huawei will no longer be able to use SD Association standard on their future devices.
What this essentially means is no future Huawei and Honor phones and laptops will be able to support an additional SD or microSD card. SD and microSD cards on existing devices will continue to work nevertheless.
Adding fuel to the growing fire, WiFi Alliance has also restricted Huawei’s participation on a temporary basis. In a statement, Wi-Fi Alliance said that it is “fully complying with the recent U.S. Department of Commerce order without revoking Huawei Technologies membership. Wi-Fi Alliance has temporarily restricted Huawei Technologies participation in Wi-Fi Alliance activities covered by the order”.
In case you didn’t know, WiFi Alliance is a group of tech companies who influence development in wireless technologies. While the loss of the membership doesn’t mean Huawei won’t be able to create WiFi-based products, it means, the Chinese company will no longer be able to influence a change in the wireless game. This doesn’t have a short-term effect but in the long run, Huawei will no longer be considered competitive if it’s no longer a member of the consortium.
While the dominoes keep falling for Huawei, there is some light at the end of the tunnel as Taiwan-based semiconductor maker TSMC pledged its support for the Chinese manufacturer. As a followup, Huawei has also been ensured shipments from Toshiba, Lenovo and Panasonic for component requirements.
Huawei is also closing in on a partnership with Portugal-based Aptoide App Store to replace Google Play Store. The partnership could bode well for Huawei since Aptoide has a library of 900,000 apps on its store with over 200 million users. If you owned a Huawei or Honor phone, however, you need not worry about the updates as Huawei has promised security updates till the end of your phone’s cycle.