HOW TO THINK ABOUT IT
Clock is ticking. Existing Huawei handset users — the company sold 200 million smartphones in 2018 — will still be able to use all Google Android apps, not just those on the open source version. But it’s a different story when it comes to security updates. Until now, Huawei, like other Google partners, had a monthlong notice of any updates prompted by security concerns. But as of today, the Chinese firm will know of these changes only on the day they’re made public for the open source version. So there will be a delay before Huawei can incorporate updates, resulting in extra vulnerability for those using its smartphones. It also means those buying the phones from now on will only be able to access the open source version of Android.
China’s been preparing. Huawei, having clearly read the tea leaves, told CNBC back in March it had developed its own operating system for laptops and smartphones in case the U.S. forced Google to cut ties. Within China, Google is already banned, and it’s the messaging app WeChat that effectively serves as an operating system that allows users to interact with the outside world, including through e-commerce. But China’s preparations aren’t limited to how it’ll serve its domestic market, or to the telecom sector either. Under President Xi Jinping’s Made in China policy, Beijing has invested more than the U.S. in artificial intelligence and robotics over the past five years. Now, its plans to build cutting-edge tech completely independent of American platforms will likely be given fresh impetus.
Time to pick sides. Over the past two decades, the U.S. and China have competed in the same markets for supremacy. For consumers and other countries, that meant more choice. Companies could build products using components designed in different nations. That might end if the divorce between Google and Huawei spreads to other companies and industries. Cutting-edge Chinese home-built products will likely be cheaper than their American counterparts because of cheaper labor and weaker regulations. China’s also the largest trade and investment partner for multiple African, Latin American and Asian countries — many of which might pick Chinese technology if a firewall emerges between markets exclusively available to Washington or Beijing.
Not the first time. This isn’t the only diplomatic war with tech at its center in the world. But other tussles either involve overt economic sanctions (companies that buy weapons from Russia today risk a ban on trade with America, for instance) or are restricted to specific technology (Australia is pushing back against Huawei over security concerns). If the Google-Huawei separation extends across industries, the U.S. and China would be mimicking the Cold War in which countries had to choose between the U.S-led West and the Soviet-led communist bloc to source everything from satellites and nuclear technology to cars and washing machines.
Collateral damage. It’s not just Huawei’s supply chain that has been disrupted. The Chinese company has reportedly been stockpiling enough components to continue manufacturing for at least three months, but carriers in Europe, Canada and Latin America may soon feel a squeeze. What’s more, industry insiders say such companies would likely need about two years to switch from Huawei components to those of another manufacturer — two years they don’t have. Meanwhile, some of Huawei’s competitors use Chinese-made components, meaning that if China retaliates, their supply chains could be disrupted too. And if two competing world tech systems do spring up, that will curtail consumer choice and could hurt consumers who depend on a competitive market to drive low prices and tech innovation.
Watch on the Financial Times on YouTube
