The Chinese tech giant Huawei week from hell just got a little worse at the very end of last week. We initially reported about Google cutting ties with Huawei on the use of Android OS on future phones from the company, followed soon after by Qualcomm, and then UK-based semiconductor technology company ARM, who are the industry leaders in making semiconductor for phones also cut ties with the giant from the east.
Adding to all those, Huawei has received a fresh ban from the trade group controlling the standards and official access to the SD and microSD memory card format, stopping them from using these cards in their future phones, laptops or media devices.
As reported by Engadget, the SD Association confirmed that Huawei had been barred from membership as a result of their new rules issued by the US government last week. The rules stem from Huawei and its subsidiaries being placed on what’s known as the US government’s “Entity List,” which designates a company as a threat to national security in the eyes of the US government.
Such a designation makes Huawei and its affiliated companies ineligible to receive material or funding.
What does this mean for Huawei?
Similar to how Google’s cutting ties with Huawei only affects future devices, not current ones, the SD Association ban only applies to future Huawei devices. This isn’t that big of a blow however, since several popular mobile phones, including many Android devices as well do not have an SD or microSD slot. This might, however, prove a greater challenge when it comes to the company’s computers and other products.
