Infineon Technologies, one of the largest chip manufacturers in Europe, clarified after the Nikkei Asia Review revealed that it had "suspended supply to Huawei".
According to a report by Bloomberg on the 20th, Infineon spokesman said on the same day that most of the products provided by the company to Huawei are not restricted by the United States and can be "adjusted in our international supply chain".
Another European company, Ames Semiconductor (AMS) of Austria, also said that it has not suspended the delivery to Huawei.
As of press time, Infineon's share price fell by more than 5% that day, the highest among the 30 constituent stocks of the German DAX index. The Nikkei reported that the share price of ST Microelectronics plummeted by more than 9%, which was the worst performance of the French CAC40 index.
On the 20th, Nikkei Asia Review quoted two people familiar with the matter as saying that Infineon had suspended its supply to Huawei.
According to the report, this is the first sign that Washington's crackdown on China's technology giants has begun to stifle the supply of important chips outside the United States.
Before Infineon was exposed to stop shipping, the US Department of Commerce planned to include Huawei and its 70 branches in the "entity list" last week, prohibiting US suppliers from supplying Huawei. So, what is the impact of such a "ban" on non-American companies?
According to the Nikkei lawyer's explanation, if American technology accounts for a certain proportion of the products sold by foreign companies to Huawei, then these companies will also become the targets of US restrictions. If they don't comply with the "ban", they may be punished by American law.
Infineon logo in IC photos
Share prices of two European chip giants are under pressure.
According to the above sources, Infineon decided to take "more cautious measures" and first stopped shipping to Huawei. A meeting will be held this week to discuss the situation and make an assessment. It is unclear whether Infineon will resume its business with Huawei after clarifying legal issues this week.
It is reported that Infineon's products sold to Huawei include microcontrollers and power management integrated circuits, accounting for only a small part of the former's revenue, with annual sales of about 654.38 billion US dollars.
Some insiders analyzed that Infineon's move may affect other major suppliers in Europe and Asia, and adopted a similar cautious attitude. According to American regulations, enterprises that fail to obtain permission to supply to listed entities are also at risk of being blacklisted.
Infineon did not respond to requests for comment on the above news.
Sources also revealed that stmicroelectronics, another key chip manufacturer in Europe, is scheduled to hold a meeting this week to discuss whether to continue to deliver goods to Huawei. At present, the supply in stmicroelectronics has not been interrupted.
According to the latest news from The New York Times, stmicroelectronics also declined to comment on the Nikkei report.
Affected by the above news, European stock markets opened in early trading on Monday, with Infineon and stmicroelectronics's share prices falling by 3.8% and 3.9% respectively.
On the other hand, TSMC, Huawei's main chip supplier in Asia, has not stopped supplying, but said it is conducting "due diligence" to assess the potential impact. Other suppliers, such as Toshiba Memory and Japan Display (JDI), also said that they are investigating the impact of the US action on their business.
Observers reported online last week that the United States tried to prevent American companies from selling related technologies and products to Huawei, which made Japanese Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso "complain" that Japanese companies might also be affected, and the country's economic growth was under pressure.
Ren: Huawei is very good.
According to the Nikkei News and Bloomberg News, American chip companies, including Qualcomm, Qorvo, Micron Technology and Western Digital, have suspended their supply to Huawei under the "ban" of the US government.
In addition, Reuters quoted a source as saying today that after the US government listed Huawei on the "Entity List", Google has suspended some business contacts with Huawei. Huawei can only use the public Android operating system and cannot access Google's proprietary applications and services. Google will also stop providing Huawei with technical support and cooperation involving all applications and future services.
In response to this news, Huawei responded that the company has the ability to continue developing and using the Android ecosystem. Huawei and Glory brand products, including smart phones and tablets, products and services are not affected in the China market, and consumers can use and buy them with confidence.
Last Saturday (18), Ren, the founder of Huawei, told Japanese media at the company's Shenzhen headquarters that even if American suppliers can't sell chips to Huawei, Huawei "has no problem" and "we are ready for this".
Screenshot of Reuters report
According to "2 1 Century Business Herald", people in the semiconductor industry chain are quoted as saying that Huawei has stocked its core components for six months to one year. Since last year, Huawei has been ready to make inventory in advance to meet this year's challenges, and the spare tire strategy can also protect Huawei from some risks.
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