Microsoft gets permission to supply software to Huawei
Microsoft has permission from the US government to trade with Huawei. As a result, the company may again supply software to Huawei. Presumably this will allow the Chinese company to resume production of Windows laptops.
On November 20, Microsoft received permission to supply mass-market software to Huawei, reports Reuters news agency. No specific Microsoft software is mentioned, but the wording suggests that the company has a general license to supply consumer software. Presumably, Microsoft can now supply software such as Office and Windows to Huawei.
Huawei may be able to resume production of Windows laptops as a result. Earlier this year, the company canceled a laptop due to the trade ban with the US. Huawei announced a Linux laptop for the Chinese market in September. For this, the company uses Deepin, a Linux distribution made by a Chinese company.
This week, the US Department of Commerce reported that some suppliers will be allowed to resume trading with Huawei. The government indicates that 300 license applications have been submitted, half of which have now been processed. At the time of writing, a quarter of all applications have been approved. Among others, the Semiconductor Industry Association has received a trade license. The SIA includes companies such as Intel, Qualcomm and Broadcom.
To the best of our knowledge, Google has not yet received a trading license. This makes it difficult for Huawei to sell smartphones outside of China, as the company cannot approve smartphones for using Google services. This ban does not apply to existing Huawei smartphones for the time being, but new products may not contain Google apps. Phones like the Mate 30 Pro didn’t come out in Europe, although a version without Google services will come out in Spain.
The Huawei Matebook 13 with Windows software