The recent decision by the US government to ban Huawei from using US technology is having some ripple effects far more than we envisage. A host of companies outside the US have cut ties with Huawei, the latest being ARM. These developments will, no doubt, have some effects on the company’s smartphone sales outside China. While Huawei strategizes on a way out of this dead end, two major UK carriers who had concluded plans to sell Huawei 5G phones when they roll out their 5G networks have decided to put such plans on hold.
UK carrier EE had today announced that its 5G network will roll out next week as UK’s first. The company also released a number of 5G phones that would be on offer and this includes the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G, OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, LG V50 ThinQ 5G, and the Oppo Reno 5G. Huawei’s first 5G phone, the Mate 20 X was originally on the list but says it is putting the Mate 20 X release on hold due to the uncertainty surrounding Huawei’s current situation. EE disclosed in a statement that Huawei’s 5G offerings won’t be launched until it receives “the information and confidence” that customers who purchase the smartphones will be supported “for the lifetime they’ve got the device.” This is in reference to Google announcing that current Huawei models won’t get security updates. That decision has been postponed temporarily but the future is still uncertain.
Read Also: Huawei’s own OS is coming in Fall, features Android app compatibility
In addition, UK carrier Vodafone announced that it will be putting Huawei Mate 20 X 5G pre-orders on hold for the time being. The company stated that it “is a temporary measure while uncertainty exists regarding new Huawei 5G devices.” While other European carriers are yet to announce their decisions, we expect this to spread in no distant time except US and China reach a settlement before the expiration of the 90 days extension.
