China No Longer Needs US Parts in its Phones

[beijingwalker]

China No Longer Needs US Parts in its Phones
DEC 2 2019

China was once very dependent on US chips for its phones. The latest Chinese phones have no US parts.

The Wall Street Journal reports Huawei Manages to Make Smartphones Without American Chips.

American tech companies are getting the go-ahead to resume business with Chinese smartphone giant Huawei Technologies Co., but it may be too late: It is now building smartphones without U.S. chips.

Huawei’s latest phone, which it unveiled in September—the Mate 30 with a curved display and wide-angle cameras that competes with Apple Inc.’s iPhone 11—contained no U.S. parts, according to an analysis by UBS and Fomalhaut Techno Solutions, a Japanese technology lab that took the device apart to inspect its insides.

In May, the Trump administration banned U.S. shipments to Huawei as trade tensions with Beijing escalated. That move stopped companies like Qualcomm Inc. and Intel Corp. from exporting chips to the company, though some shipments of parts resumed over the summer after companies determined they weren’t affected by the ban.

Meanwhile, Huawei has made significant strides in shedding its dependence on parts from U.S. companies. (At issue are chips from U.S.-based companies, not those necessarily made in America; many U.S. chip companies make their semiconductors abroad.)

Huawei long relied on suppliers like Qorvo Inc., the North Carolina maker of chips that are used to connect smartphones with cell towers, and Skyworks Solutions Inc., a Woburn, Mass.-based company that makes similar chips. It also used parts from Broadcom Inc., the San Jose-based maker of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chips, and Cirrus Logic Inc., an Austin, Texas-based company that makes chips for producing sound.

Yet Another Trump Trade Win

• Trump cut off supplies so China looked elsewhere.
• Trump changed his mind.
• This is what constitutes a win.

“When Huawei came out with this high-end phone—and this is its flagship—with no U.S. content, that made a pretty big statement,” said Christopher Rolland, a semiconductor analyst at Susquehanna International Group.

Huawei executives told Rolland that the company was moving away from American parts, but it was still surprising how quickly it happened.

This was likely going to happen anyway, but Trump escalated the speed at which it happened.

https://moneymaven.io/mishtalk/econ...s-parts-in-its-phones-SKqR2FCptEau3-mK2AoTAA/

 

[beijingwalker]

Chips were the only thing left that US can use to sanction China, now this last chip is gone, tables have been turned and in the future we're gonna sanction US more and more and give US a taste of its own medicine.

 

[Han Patriot]

Some of those parts are off the shelf parts not core stuff. It's just that it's branded and tested, so Huawei do not need to waste time qualifying new components. Local companies can make the same shit.... I told ppl many many times...

 

[Beast]

Some of those parts are off the shelf parts not core stuff. It's just that it's branded and tested, so Huawei do not need to waste time qualifying new components. Local companies can make the same shit.... I told ppl many many times...

But a lot of self bragging and delusion American will disagree with you.

 

[beijingwalker]

American tech companies are getting the go-ahead to resume business with Chinese smartphone giant Huawei Technologies Co., but it may be too late: It is now building smartphones without U.S. chips.

Typical example of shooting one's self in the foot, don't know what US companies will do with those chips after losing the Chinese market.

 

[Pan-Islamic-Pakistan]

Very good news, not just for China, but for the whole world. Less likely for US blackmail other countries over phone parts.

 

[vi-va]

Huawei vs US.
A company vs a country, so called super power.

 

[Armchair]

Problem is that Huawei phones still run on Android OS. That's American. If the US bans Android, Huaweii will be in big trouble.

 

[vi-va]

Problem is that Huawei phones still run on Android OS. That's American. If the US bans Android, Huaweii will be in big trouble.

Facts check. Android is not American. It's base on Linux, while Linux is open source.

 

[tower9]

Chips were the only thing left that US can use to sanction China, now this last chip is gone, tables have been turned and in the future we're gonna sanction US more and more and give US a taste of its own medicine.

Not really. There are a lot of things the US can sanction China on but has been hesitant due to the economic volatility that would ensue. GE Engines is another thing. Honeywell systems is another thing. China's avionics industry is very immature and significantly relies on advanced foreign components.

If the US also wanted to, it can pressure its allies to limit exports to China on things like advanced machinery, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, etc.

Not to mention Google just established quantum supremacy, that's another area that China is behind in. Also, the sanctioning of Google apps for Huawei phones has pretty much destroyed Huawei's foreign market share. The US can do the same for any Chinese origin phones or brands, that would completely destroy their market share in countries outside of China.

China is also deeply reliant on the supply of US dollars for its trade. If the US wanted to, it could limit the supply of dollars to China and that would deeply impact China's trade.

Typical example of shooting one's self in the foot, don't know what US companies will do with those chips after losing the Chinese market.

Other phone brands will rise who have access to these chips. Maybe phones Samsung phones or phones made in Vietnam or even India. A few years ago, Chinese smartphone brands were nobodies. In a few years, Vietnamese phones may become popular.

 

[UKBengali]

Facts check. Android is not American. It's base on Linux, while Linux is open source.

Yes but without Google services and apps, Huawei phones will not be very appealing outside China and a few other countries.

The P40 pro despite being technically the best Android phone is not selling very well here in the UK.

 

[enroger]

Not really. There are a lot of things the US can sanction China on but has been hesitant due to the economic volatility that would ensue. GE Engines is another thing. Honeywell systems is another thing. China's avionics industry is very immature and significantly relies on advanced foreign components.

If the US also wanted to, it can pressure its allies to limit exports to China on things like advanced machinery, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, etc.

Not to mention Google just established quantum supremacy, that's another area that China is behind in. Also, the sanctioning of Google apps for Huawei phones has pretty much destroyed Huawei's foreign market share. The US can do the same for any Chinese origin phones or brands, that would completely destroy their market share in countries outside of China.

China is also deeply reliant on the supply of US dollars for its trade. If the US wanted to, it could limit the supply of dollars to China and that would deeply impact China's trade.



Other phone brands will rise who have access to these chips. Maybe phones Samsung phones or phones made in Vietnam or even India. A few years ago, Chinese smartphone brands were nobodies. In a few years, Vietnamese phones may become popular.

I really wish US would just go ahead and do all that, we all know decoupling is inevitable at this point, might as well get it over with.
Nobody is buying new planes now anyway, Comac might as well take the time to finish CJ-1000.

Eventually the picture is gonna be China and US still trade with the rest of the world, but not with each other.

The good news is it sort of force Huawei to evaluate homegrown RF chips, overall this is a very good news Chinese semiconductor business.

 

[Naram_Sin]

Regarding reliance on software, Huawei already made an app search application for their android devices, havent tried it myself but it essentially allows you to install apps from mirror sites through a store like interface.

Unless the app specifically uses a google play service, a solution for easy install of software isnt really difficult.

 

[925boy]

Problem is that Huawei phones still run on Android OS. That's American. If the US bans Android, Huaweii will be in big trouble.

if China can make stealth fighter jets and aircraft carriers, you must be naive to think China cant make a competitior to Android OS, at least one that China and Asia can use..smh.

 

[Mr Happy]

if China can make stealth fighter jets and aircraft carriers, you must be naive to think China cant make a competitior to Android OS, at least one that China and Asia can use..smh.

Many bigger empires came before China. They come and go. Nobody stays forever.