Huawei abandons the launch of a laptop because of the US blacklist

Chinese tech giant Huawei has stopped the launch of the new laptop because of its effective ban on dealing with US suppliers.

This is the first product launch that the company canceled after being placed on a blacklist restricting its access to US technology.

Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's Consumer Division, told CNBC that the company had formally planned to launch a new product in its Matebook series without giving a date, but that it had been suspended indefinitely.

He said the listing of US entities, which prohibits US companies from selling products to Huawei, was the cause of the cancellation announced for the first time by the digital media The Information.

"We can not provide the PC," said Yu, adding that the situation was "unfortunate".

When asked if the laptop could be launched at a later date, Yu said that it "depends on the duration of the list of entities." He acknowledged that, if Huawei was blacklisted for a long time, the laptop could not be launched.

Huawei relies on US technology for a significant portion of its consumer products. Its high-end Matebook X Pro uses Microsoft's Windows operating system and uses Intel chips.

The telecommunications giant has put in place measures to try to mitigate the effects of the blacklist, including, it seems, storage of key elements. He is also working on his own operating system, which Yu told CNBC, which could launch it this year in China. Huawei designs the main processors of its smartphones well, but it still relies on US technologies for other parts of the devices.

Huawei's largest company was traditionally selling network equipment. But in 2018, the consumer sector, which includes smartphones, laptops and mobile devices, was the largest division in terms of revenue.

While the majority of Huawei's consumer revenue is generated by smartphones, the group said it wants to become one of the world's largest PC makers.

Huawei's smartphones do not seem to be affected yet, but experts have warned that being stranded to access US technology could hurt society. Shao Yang, chief executive of Huawei's consumer division, said Tuesday that achieving its ambition to become the world's largest smartphone player would take longer than expected. He is currently in second place, behind Samsung in South Korea.