Huawei's next blow is chip designer company ARM

Next in line is ARM to terminate its business operations with Huawei. Huawei is going to have a difficult time when it comes to creating its own chips as ARM joins the list of companies banning its business operations. Employees at ARM have received an order from higher-ups to ‘halt’ projects with Huawei.

While Google, Qualcomm, and Intel are companies based in the US, ARM is based in the UK with its roots in the SoftBank group in Japan. Does this mean that more countries are joining in to ban trading with Chinese companies? ARM defends its decision as its chip designs are “US origin technology.” This is because ARM designs and develops certain processors in California and Texas, bringing it under the US restrictions.

In a statement to the media in the US, ARM spokesperson said that the company is only “complying with the latest restrictions set forth by the US government.” ARM is also negotiating with the US governmental agencies to remain compliant.

On the other hand, ARM’s chip architecture designs are an important entity for Huawei, which uses it for the Kirin processors. Huawei also pays a license fee for the ARM designs. Without them, Huawei is in a difficult spot to manufacture its own processors and other IT services. Huawei also relies on ARM for its HiSilicon fabless semiconductor company. While Huawei was already working on a similar-Android and Windows OS, cutting off from ARM is a drastic blow to the company.