Huawei’s smartphone business is in a fever: the company practically scrapped a division in Bangladesh
Huawei’s business, including in the area of smartphones, is far from brilliant. This is due to the increasingly harsh US sanctions that the Chinese manufacturer has to face. Outside of China, smartphone sales are plummeting – and while this is offset by growing market share in the company’s home market, the September sanctions package has taken a new toll.
Currently, no company using US technology can work for Huawei without US permission. The target of this ban is primarily Taiwanese manufacturing giant TSMC, which has printed Kirin single-chip systems. Without them, Huawei will not be able to produce flagship devices. Although there are several alternative suppliers, they will need to obtain US government approval.
As a result, Huawei’s smartphone business is in decline. News from Bangladesh became further evidence of this. According to The Daily Star, the company has cut its department responsible for operations with smartphones and other devices in this country. The last day of September was also the last working day for most of Huawei’s Dhaka device staff, with a Malaysia unit now overseeing the device business in Bangladesh. Also, Smart Technologies, the distributor of Huawei smartphones in Bangladesh, will now oversee the sales, marketing, and business of Huawei smartphones and other devices, said the company’s sales manager Anwar Hossain. The Chinese resource ITHome concretizes the information: according to it, the layoff process began in November 2019, and the other day 7 of the 8 remaining employees of the Huawei headquarters in Dhaka were fired. There is only one person left who will be in place on behalf of Huawei to coordinate the equipment business of the Chinese company.
There are no signs of a possible lifting of sanctions on Huawei any time soon. This condition will drag on at least until the November US presidential elections. Even if Joe Biden wins, it is unlikely that Chinese manufacturers should hope for a favor. However, most likely, negotiations with the government headed by Biden would be easier for China than with the current administration.
