Huawei, which means 'Chinese achievement', is since a few years very well-known in the Western tech world. Feared by Americans and loved by Europeans, the Shenzen-based company became the second largest smartphone company in the world last summer. It passed by its American rival Apple in the first quarter of 2019 and conquered a 17% global market share. However, its popularity mainly raised in Europe and China, where it sold respectively 26% and 34% of all smartphones sold in the first quarter of 2019. It was expected to soon dominate the (western) smartphone market even more ... Until American president Donald Trump put the company on a blacklist, saying it's a thread to the national security as the Chinese government would use the company to spy. Why did he does he think that? And why is that important for you even when you never thought of buying a Huawei and when you have nothing to do with the US?
After months being concerned of the Huawei world domination, Trump decided on May 15th to put Huawei on a blacklist. It meant a ban on US companies doing business with Huawei that took effect immediately. Trump made this announcement as the company would pose a national security risk. According to the US government, Huawei is being used by the Chinese government as a 'Trojan Horse'. Its links with the Chinese government, that have been published in a US House Intelligence Committee report back in 2012 have always been concerning. While US officials were already banned from using a Huawei phone, the US want to take it even further by banning the company as much as possible for everyone.
The result was that Google, the American company owning Android, was forced to cancel all collaboration with its Chinese client. No updates will be released anymore for the android version running on Huawei devices. It means that new app versions in the Google Play Store in the future won't be available anymore to Huawei phones, immediately plummeting Huawei sales with over 40% in the US. Huawei's reaction was cool, saying it would release an own operating software by late June. However, even though Huawei has easily access to the rights developers to come up with a great Android-alternative, it would definitely not be easy to compete with Google's Android and Apple's iOS. Microsoft proved with its failed Windows Phone that the mobile market wasn't waiting on a 3rd operating system. The problem is that developers need to create different apps for every system and thus only choose for the systems with the most (valuable) users.
'So what? I don't have any Huawei products'
Chances are you're not concerned so far as you have nothing to do with Huawei. You have no Huawei phone, tablet or computer and you were never thinking of buying one. Well, still you're dependent from the Chinese company, or you will be in the future. Huawei is namely the pioneer of 5G, the successor of our current 4G network. "A game changer", according to Daniëlle Jacobs van Beltug, head of the Belgian Association of Digital Technology Leaders.
"The new 5G network is more than just an upgrade. It will reinvent the internet as we know it"
Everything starts with the speed of a connection in order to know what it's capable of. The first phone network in the eighties, 1G, brought the possibility to speak with each other over the phone, completely wirelessly. "A revolution" back then. Then years later, its digital successor, 2G, was released and made it possible to send text messages and browse the internet with very low speeds. The 3G network had a greatly improved speed and made it possible for the first time to stream video (at a low quality). The newest upgrade, 4G, released only 10 years ago in Oslo, Norway, is now deployed all over Europe and is available in almost every European region, both inside and outside, in the city and on the countryside. This upgrade made it possible to browse the internet at the same speeds as with your basic home wifi box. All you need nowadays is accessible wherever you are: Netflix streaming, Facebook live, Google Maps, YouTube and Skype (FaceTime, WhatsApp Video or Messenger Video for the younger ones).
But what about 5G? Well, according to specialists, its speed is 100 to 200 times (depending on the local network) faster than 4G. While we currently browse at 100 Mbps, 5G can offer speeds up to 20.000 Mbps. A 4K film that would now take 10 minutes to download, could be downloaded in just a few seconds. "Things will be possible that we don't even know the existence of yet", says Jacobs van Beltug. "With a latency of only 4 milliseconds (5G reacts 4 times faster than 4G), a surgeon will be able to operate on a distance, as a robot arm could operate very precisely and immediately." Just like self driving cars. This new ultrafast and reliable network will make it possible to have a mobile supercomputer in your pocket.
Huawei is the best partner to enroll a 5G network
However, those features don't show up just like that. In order to create a reliable 5G network, all existing telecommunications equipment needs to be upgraded. "Huawei is the big expert in 5G technologies. It yearly spends over 15 billion euros on research and development, more than its rivals Nokia and Ericsson combined.", as Jacobs explains. "As a pioneer, it has planned several years ago to create a monopoly for 5G technologies". It has already delivered hard- and software to several telecommunication companies in Asia, Europe and Africa. "Replacing that by competitor's technology costs billions. On top of that, you need to pay royalties to Huawei as it has patents for several crucial elements of 5G equipment."
"You need to pay royalties to Huawei as it has patents for several crucial elements of 5G equipment."
For the US it's clear: They avoid any collaboration with China and Huawei at all costs. They fear that the 'new internet' will be under Chinese rule and fear economic backwardness and espionage. Or even worse: Sabotage. "As the mobile network is supposed to regulate everything, it is vital for a country to operate. If it's getting attacked, a country can be mocked down in a second without any physical violence.", says Jacobs.
What says Europe?
The US isn't the only one who's sceptic about Huawei. Its close allies, such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK, decided to follow the US on banning the Chinese company from doing business with local companies. This way, they want to avoid any Chinese influence in their new 5G network. Meanwhile, most European countries are trying to take advantage of the advanced and cheap Chinese technologies while being sceptic against the Chinese policies. However, the fact that close allies, such as France, Germany, Benelux, ... don't blindly follow its American companion, shows the European skepticism against Trump and Co. "Many European countries decide for themselves if China would be a danger or not as they see the ban as a way for Trump to win the ongoing geo-political battle between the current biggest economy (the US) and the upcoming China.
Russia however doesn't want to miss out. Last month, the deputy chairman of Huawei, Guo Ping, and the head of the Russian cellphone carrier MTS, Alexei Kornya, signed a contract at the Kremlin in Moscow. The meeting, that was attended by Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, is the beginning of a Russian-Chinese future collaboration.
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