BEIJING (PingWest) — Samsung and memory manufacturer SK Hynix is reportedly to halt selling components to Huawei on September 15, the day new restrictions the United States Commerce Department announced go into effect, according to South Korean newspaper Chosun llbo and other SK news outlets.
Those sanctions were introduced in August, restricting non-American companies from selling components that were developed with US technology to Huawei unless those companies obtained special approval. This ban has affected Huawei’s as which said it may no longer make its Kirin chipsets. Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group said that Mate 40 would feature Huawei’s Kirin processor due to trade sanctions imposed by the U.S. The restrictions would also hurt Samsung and SK Hynix as well, as 40% of the latter’s revenue came from Huawei.
The Chinese tech giant has tried to reduce negative effect exerted by the U.S., and turned to source components from Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), a leading Chinese semiconductor company.
However, the Trump administration also threatened to put sanctions on SMIC. The U.S. Defence Department confirmed at the beginning of September that it might add SMIC to the same Commerce Department entity list to ban U.S. companies from dealing with Huawei. If the restriction goes into effect, it will prohibit SMIC from getting components it needs to make chips for Huawei.