Huawei global domination dream dashed

BRITAIN’S decision to ban Huawei from the country’s 5G network is a huge blow to the Chinese conglomerate’s global ambitions and hopes of leading the next generation of wireless technology.
Despite the US campaign against the company over the last two years, Huawei has managed to grow its 5G business, securing dozens of contracts with telecom carriers, many of them in Europe.
But the United Kingdom’s reversal — in the wake of increased US sanctions against the Shenzhen-based firm — is a big loss for Huawei, and could spell more trouble ahead. The company’s supply chain has been upended by the latest US restrictions, prompting renewed concerns about the security risks of using its product
Britain’s “decision will prompt a reassessment in European capitals about whether they will be able to mitigate the risk of including Huawei in their 5G networks,” said Carisa Nietsche, a researcher at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington think tank.
“The United Kingdom has long been a trendsetter in Europe due to their risk assessment chops,” she said. Now that Britain has banned Huawei, “it’s possible that other European countries may follow,” including France, she said.

In Germany, where Deutsche Telekom (DTEGF) depends on Huawei equipment for as much as 90 percent of its network, debate about the Chinese company’s role has intensified in recent months, Paul Triolo, head of geo-technology at Eurasia Group, wrote in a note on Tuesday.
Washington could try to capitalise on the momentum. US national security adviser Robert O’Brien arrived in Paris on Monday for three days of talks with his counterparts from France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Italy. The issue of 5G networks was on the agenda.
Huawei called the UK ban disappointing, saying it was based on US trade policy, not security concerns.
The company would “continue fulfilling our obligations to customers and suppliers,” spokeswoman Evita Cao said. She said Huawei would survive “no matter what future challenges the company faces.”
Before the Trump administration began its crackdown, Huawei had set ambitious goals: to overtake Samsung and become the world’s top smartphone maker by 2020, and to be a leading provider of 5G telecom gear.
Huawei said earlier this year that it has secured 91 commercial 5G contracts, more than half (47) are in Europe, 27 are in Asia and 17 are elsewhere in the world. The company declined to update those figures on Wednesday.
But US sanctions have dashed the company’s hopes for global domination.
Last year, Washington barred American companies from supplying tech to Huawei.
The ban means Huawei’s latest smartphones can’t run popular Google apps like YouTube and Google Maps.
In May, the US barred global firms that use American tech from selling semiconductors to Huawei.
That move effectively blocked off Huawei’s access to chipsets made by its key supplier, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, (TSM) or TSMC. Without those chipsets, Huawei can’t build 5G base stations.
In recent months, the United States has also been pushing a so-called “Clean Path Initiative” requiring countries and carriers to ensure communications between the United States and US diplomatic and military bases overseas are free of Chinese gear.
— CNN