The Financial Times (FT) has quoted unnamed sources as saying that the US is allowing an increasing array of chip firms to provide Huawei with components if they are not used for the company's 5G businesses, in what the newspaper described as a "potential lifeline" for the Chinese tech behemoth.
One of the sources claimed that the US Department of Commerce "has been telling companies in recent conversations that while licenses to supply Huawei are handled with a view to denial, this can be overcome if you can demonstrate that your technology does not support 5G".
Other insiders expressed hope that the US would greenlight their applications for licenses to resume shipments to Huawei, adding, "it has been indicated to us that chips for mobile devices are not a problem".
Analyst Edison Lee from the New York-based independent multinational investment bank and financial services company Jefferies was cited by FT as saying that the reported developments are "a strong indication the US intends to allow Huawei to stay in the handset business, since, as we have argued, it does not present an obvious national security threat to the US".
The claims followed Huawei posting revenues of 454 billion yuan ($64.8 billion) in the first half of 2020, a 13.1 percent increase year-on-year, despite growing US sanctions on the firm and uncertainty over its role in the development of 5G telecommunications networks across the globe.
US Crackdown on Huawei
This came after the US Department of Commerce in May announced a ban on the export of semiconductors from global chipmakers to Huawei, noting in a separate statement that the department would extend a license allowing some American companies, particularly in rural US communities, to continue doing business with the Chinese tech giant for another 90 days.
Washington also began a campaign of discouraging countries from allowing Huawei to take part in building national 5G networks using similar claims, despite rejections from the UK, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, and some Canadian telecom providers.
As far as Britain is concerned, its government finally yielded to US pressure and in July stopped the Chinese smartphone manufacturer from participating in the nation's 5G telecom infrastructure.