Huawei smartphone production stops after US blacklisting

It has been less than a week since US banned Huawei from operating in the country, as well as from participating in business activities with American companies. As such several companies among them Google and Microsoft, have stop providing their services to Huawei.

This has stirred up a storm for Huawei, which according to a report made earlier today by the South China Morning Post, is stopping further production of new Huawei smartphones.

The report states that Foxconn, The Taiwanese electronics manufacturer which builds smartphones for brands like Apple, Xiaomi, among others. has halted several production lines of Huawei smartphones owing to the Chinese firm’s reduction of orders for new devices.

Numerous Hong Kong-based Huawei users have complained of their phones freezing or crashing after the new OS update. A problem the company has addressed by asking the users to factory reset their phones, hardly an appealing option for users who may not want to let go of all their data.

Huawei had expressed its ambitions to be the top-selling smartphone worldwide by 2020, but its recent woes may see it shelve this plan at least in the near future. According to a senior HUawei executive, the US Trade ban has raised important questions about the firm’s access to services crucial for its international sales.

With regard to this goal, Zhao Ming, president of Honor, one of Huawei’s smartphone brands, at a media briefing in Shanghai on Friday said, “As the new situation has emerged, it is too early to say whether we are able to achieve the goal,” Zhao said, responding to questions about Huawei’s plan to overtake Samsung Electronics and become the world’s largest smartphone vendor before the end of 2020.

Related article: Huawei membership restored by SD Association, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Alliance

It has been widely speculated that sales have dipped as a direct impact of the ban on phone sales and prices. Most reports suggest sales have taken a hit and trade-in prices for high end Huawei phones have also plummeted, further unsettling existing Huawei users.

It is not yet public what direction the firm will take in light of these new events.