Qualcomm has been putting pressure on the Trump administration to allow it to sell components to Huawei, saying current restrictions risk channeling revenue to foreign competitors rather than preventing Huawei from obtaining the parts, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Qualcomm is lobbying to be permitted to sell chips to Huawei that would be used in 5G phones, the newspaper reported, citing a presentation it says has been “circulating around Washington” and without specifying how it obtained the document.
US chipmakers are required to obtain a license from the Commerce Department to ship certain components to Huawei.
Qualcomm said that, due to the restrictions, its foreign competitors now have access to a market worth as much as $8 billion each year. It cites MediaTek and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics as those benefiting from the redirected revenue stream.
Huawei will be MediaTek's biggest customer for chips next year, report says
“If Qualcomm is subject to export licensing, but its foreign competitors are not, US government policy will cause a rapid shift in 5G chipset market share in China and beyond,” it said.
That would hamper American research and leadership on 5G issues, it said, calling that “an unacceptable outcome for US interests.”
MediaTek Dimensity 800 chip's largest shipments reportedly come from Huawei phones