Huawei's US temporary general license expires

After getting several extensions, the temporary general license for Huawei and its US trade partners have expired yesterday.

File photo: Huawei logo

End of the temporary general license

To recall, the reprieved provided some exceptions to the trade ban imposed by the Trump administration to the Chinese tech giant over alleged "security" concerns. The expiration of the temporary general license means that Huawei and its US partners won't be allowed by the US government to work with each other anymore.

How about older Huawei smartphones? Huawei smartphones manufactured before May 16, 2019, are still eligible to receive security updates from Google and general updates to Google apps. But, Huawei should not break any compatibility with Google apps during the update.

GSMArena noted that there's also a possibility of Huawei not being able to distribute Google apps with future updates even for devices older than May 16, 2019, because Google has to certify each and every update. It added that those scenarios are highly unlikely though.

Early in February, Google expressed its desire to do business with Huawei again.

The ban will probably have minimal effect on new and future Huawei smartphones as the company now have its own HMS (Huawei Mobile Services) with AppGallery that is steadily improving.

Huawei is not using US parts on its devices and services anymore as well.

Huawei is currently the world's largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer. The tech giant also snatched the world's largest smartphone maker crown from Samsung in Q2 2020 as well.

See also: Huawei smartphones will continue to get updates

Sources: GSMArena, The Washington Post