The US government has revoked Huawei Technologies’ license to sell laptop chips and handheld devices from Intel and Qualcomm, according to multiple sources. On May 7, the US Department of Commerce announced that it had revoked a number of export licenses, but did not specify which companies were affected. It was reported that the licenses in question were granted to Intel and Qualcomm for the sale of laptop chips and handheld devices to Huawei.
The move comes after Huawei launched its first AI-powered laptop MateBook X Pro, powered by Intel’s new Core Ultra 9 processor, last month. This product has attracted criticism from Republican lawmakers, who claimed that the US Department of Commerce gave the green light for Intel to sell chips to Huawei. An Intel spokesman declined to comment, while Qualcomm and Huawei did not respond to Reuters. Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik voiced her support for the action, stating that it will strengthen national security, protect American innovation, and reduce China’s ability to develop technology.
Intel is currently facing weak demand for its chips for data centers and PCs. In April 2024, its capitalization evaporated by $11 billion after forecasting second-quarter revenue and profits were lower than expectations. Huawei was placed on the US trade restrictions list in 2019 for security reasons, meaning that suppliers need a special license from the US to do business with this company. Over the years, American companies have still received licenses to sell billions of dollars in goods and technology to Huawei. However, a particularly controversial license issued by the Trump administration in 2020 allowed Intel to supply central processors to Huawei for use in laptops starting from 2020.
Qualcomm has a license to sell older generation 4G chips to Huawei in 2020 but does not expect additional chip revenue from this company after this year. However, Qualcomm is still licensed
