Huawei has been in the news a lot lately and unfortunately not because of the excellence of their products but because of the backlash they are receiving following a ban implemented by the US government on their products. Even though the ban has been temporarily lifted for the next 90 days to give companies time to respond – and hopefully convince their government that it is indeed a bad idea – it’s still something which is likely to have a massive impact on the company and its customers.
A lot of the focus so far has been on the mobile phone division of the company (understandable given Huawei is the second largest manufacturer in the world) and the potential impact that a loss of Android functionality will have on them. However, Huawei is more than just their mobile phones and their laptop division is likely to take a big knock as well. A pity, because many people have been regarding its recent MateBook X Pro as one of the best Windows laptops currently available.
Although Microsoft has remained silent on the matter thus far, as a software provider whose operating system the laptop uses, there is likely going to be some big impact on how software usage on Huawei laptops going to be handed. We might not know yet this full impact, but according to The Verge, Microsoft has already stopped selling Huawei’s MateBook X Pro at the company’s online store, with searching for any Huawei hardware bringing up no results. It is believed the company is still selling existing stock in their retail stores for the time being, though I can’t see them moving this stock in the current situation.
If Microsoft is going to follow suit and ban the use of Windows on Huawei devices, it is also likely to affect Huawei’s server solutions. Microsoft and Huawei both operate a hybrid cloud solution for Microsoft’s Azure stack, using Microsoft-certified Huawei servers. This could have ramifications for both companies though and I wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft tries to find a way out of not needing to ban this partnership at all.
Let’s hope that over the next few months, the US presidency can remove this ban outright and we can see innovation and technology move forward once again.
Last Updated: May 22, 2019
Yahtzee
May 22, 2019 at 10:19
“MateBook X Pro”
Now that just sounds like a Chinese ripoff of the Macbook Pro
Kenn Gibson
May 22, 2019 at 10:40
problem is it’s pretty darn good piece of tech.
Original Heretic
May 22, 2019 at 10:19
‘merica…. Cause nobody is allowed to spy on the world except for them.
Pieter Kruger
May 22, 2019 at 10:51
USA! USA! USA! ???
HvR
May 22, 2019 at 10:33
Huawei probably feeling most of the hurt already in their telecoms division (largest in the world). Most NATO countries put a ban on using Huawei equipment on telecoms roll out using any of their equipment.
Think 5G, fibre, new under sea lines, government network.
One thing not mentioned is Huawei is really putting a lot of the hurt on themselves; there is has been a lot of rumblings over the years that nobody actually knows who owns how much of Huawei; apparently the employees own Huawei but even the employees have no clue of the ownership percentages work. Maybe the time has come for Huawei to play open cards.