But WHO is “you” here?

Consider these news:

• Huawei is running out of chips used for its smartphones due to sanctions
• A Huawei exec confirmed that the Chinese tech giant is unable to produce new chips
• Mate 40 could be the last Huawei smartphone to feature a Kirin chip

These are the “key points” of an IBT article about Huawei Running Out Of Chips, Saying Production Will Stop Next Month.

This is happening because of “the tension between the U.S. and China”. In practice, if things stay as it looks now, Huawei will be unable to continue producing its Kirin chips for use in future handsets. The way this happens is through sanctions placed on Huawei, which effectively prohibit other companies from making any transactions with it. Specifically, “chipmakers using U.S.-made equipment and software to produce silicon [must] apply for a license before being allowed to ship chips to Huawei”.

Huawei sources its chips from third-party chipmakers, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which stopped taking orders after the new regulations, forcing Huawei to make do with the chips it had in stock and those that were in production prior to the added requirement.

At the moment, Huawei has “no chips and no supply” in sight after September 15th, and no ways to produce new flagship chipsets that could be used in new and upcoming smartphones. More on this at The Verge and Archyde.

First, they came for Huawei…

What has happened to Huawei can happen to any other company. Or to any other country or continent that is not the US, including Europe. It is high time that Europe (and others too, of course) make their own microprocessors.