China’s Tech industry could only grow so fast, because the American competitors had to stay outside. As a punitive measure Trumps the Huawei ban is understandable, but nevertheless short-sighted, says Frank Sieren.
Quite surprisingly, it did not: U.S. President Donald Trump has put Huawei on the black list of the state polluting companies. The Chinese Telecom group may buy on the expiry of a period of 90 days, no technology from American companies. Huawei Smartphones with the Google Android operating system. Without a license you can perform Huawei but soon no more Updates, new devices would also no longer have access to the Play Store, which can be downloaded from the Central “Ecosystem” of Google, in the Apps, music, movies, books, and much more. In China this would not be a large Problem. For Huawei customers abroad, however, this is a major drawback.
The chip manufacturer Qualcomm and Intel, as well as the German manufacturer Infineon Technologies no longer could the Huawei supply may soon. If there is not, because in the next three months, an agreement – which is quite likely. But either way, the drastic measures Trumps does not mean in any case, the end of Huawei, you mean, once again, that Huawei is internationally isolated.
The 5G is the world market leader
Because Huawei is the largest network supplier in the world, and is ahead of what relates to the 5G Standard, as well as all other providers. Also Huawei Smartphones are, as regards the ratio of price and performance that is unbeatable. Therefore, only the Australians and the new Zealanders have so far yielded to the pressure of the United States, to dispense with Huawei network technology. Even Germany and the UK, which have been set by Washington, also under pressure to open their markets with restrictions on Huawei. The sales of Huawei Smartphones in their own country alone, the Americans block in the world.
In terms of 5G is no way Huawei
The reason is obvious: It is Trump to put the brakes on the economic and technological competitors in China as much as possible. The Americans want to have their Status as a world power share with anyone. The security risks are largely a pretext. To date, the U.S. has not been able to prove to government that the company is actually a security risk. Huawei is especially in focus because it is the first Chinese high-tech companies, that could prevail in the international.
Don’t panic at Huawei
In the case of Huawei not to panic in the face of the Trump-bans. It was prepared on this case already and have developed their own operating system. And a large portion of his Chips to the company location itself. “The US underestimate our strength,” says the 74-year-old company’s founder, Ren Zhengfei: “We can no longer be isolated from the world.”
DW-columnist Frank Sieren
This is in fact so. Although foreign telephone network systems in China are not prohibited, and although Samsung and Apple could sell their phones without restriction, it has Huawei managed to only open up the Chinese market, but also to conquer vast parts of the world market. Huawei is now the largest network supplier in the world, but according to Samsung, the second largest manufacturer of mobile phones – even before Apple. Especially in China, the largest growth market in the world, move the weights dramatically: last year, Apple sold 13 percent fewer Smartphones, Huawei 16 percent more. With 27 per cent, Huawei has a market share that is three Times as high as that of Apple.
A good Argument Trump has on his side: The Chinese have closed their market for Google, Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp, so Alibaba, Baidu and WeChat were able to flourish. Nevertheless, the strategy of the U.S. President is short-sighted. To bind Huawei as closely as possible to the American market, and then force, if the dependency is large enough to make concessions, he now instead, that Huawei, in particular, quickly from American suppliers. The Chinese have implemented in the German car industry in a different way: First, they have ensured that Volkswagen now sells 40 percent of its cars in China. Now you can go have a say in where the journey. Huawei, however, can shake off the American constraints, now and in the future go their own ways.
By far the largest market for Volkswagen is China
Iron Curtain 2.0?
Some therefore speak of a “Iron curtain 2.0”, a coming world order, in the two different digital systems due to their different technical Standards be separated from each other to be. In a Tech-hemisphere and then maybe with Huawei technology networked would be masters of self-driving cars of Baidu while in the Google and Tesla set the tone.
The Problem for Trump: it is Already evident that China is developing technologically to these new fields much faster, because it has a larger market with more data. In addition, you can offer new technologies cheaper, because they pay much higher piece in the home market.
The absolute majority of the countries in the world don’t want to commit to a spell of the 5G-Huawei-technology. Donald Trump is just isolate the United States and of new and important Innovation in batch mode to decouple. The Asians couldn’t make it, Africans and South Americans also. And fortunately, the Europeans are even stand-alone.
Our columnist Frank Sieren has lived for over twenty years in Beijing.