MediaTek has reportedly reached out to the US government seeking permission to supply chipsets to the leading Chinese smartphone maker, Huawei.
The Taiwanese chipset maker has sought approvals right before the mid-September deadline set by the Trump administration, after which Huawei will not be able to get supplies from TSMC, its primary chipset supplier.
This request is in line with the US government’s mandate that wants suppliers using US technology to get a license to supply parts to the Chinese company. Readers would recall that the Trump administration had imposed additional sanctions on Huawei to ensure that the Chinese smartphone maker is not able to flout the existing curbs by dealing with the US companies via third parties.
- Huawei's temporary US licence expires, meaning no updates for older phones
- Forced out of 5G race, Huawei now eyes PCs, smart screens
- Huawei patent defeat could change 5G licensing landscape
Ever since this new regulation was announced, Huawei had been looking for alternate options to get manufacturing support from other companies. Though it is said that Huawei has enough stock to make smartphones this year and probably till the launch of its next flagship, however, it would struggle to survive beyond that.
As rumoured earlier, Qualcomm did try to get necessary approvals looking at the massive opportunity Huawei offers, however the US Government's hostility towards the Chinese smartphone maker may have made it difficult to get a go-ahead.
MediaTek, on the other hand, is hopeful that since it has applied for the listening while abiding the pre-set conditions said in a prepared statement that, “MediaTek reiterates its respect for following relevant orders and rules on global trade, and has already applied for permission with the U.S. side in accordance with the rules.”
It looks rather unlikely that MediaTek may get any sort of leeway in this case as of now and the upcoming presidential election in the US may play a key role in deciding Huawei’s fate.
- Do not forget to check out the biggest Tech stories of this week
Via: Reuters
