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ARM Memo Tells Staff To Stop Working With Huawei (bbc.com) 275

UK-based chip designer ARM has told staff it must suspend business with Huawei, according to internal documents obtained by the BBC. ARM instructed employees to halt "all active contracts, support entitlements, and any pending engagementsâ with Huawei and its subsidiaries to comply with a recent US trade clampdown. From a report: ARM's designs form the basis of most mobile device processors worldwide. In a company memo, it said its designs contained "US origin technology." As a consequence, it believes it is affected by the Trump administration's ban. One analyst described the move, if it became long-term, as an "insurmountable" blow to Huawei's business. He said it would greatly affect the firm's ability to develop its own chips, many of which are currently built with ARM's underlying technology, for which it pays a licence.
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ARM Memo Tells Staff To Stop Working With Huawei

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  • Not saying Huawei isn't in bed with the Chinese government (or that the latter is the puppetmaster of the former). But...

    Doesn't it scare nobody that a single fucking monopolistic company is in a position to essentially kill a foreign company at the whim of a single man?

    Also, if China wasn't a dictatorship in the first place, everybody would recognize that the United States is behaving as a rogue state here.

    Amazing...

    • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @09:13AM (#58635654)

      If you're trying to insinuate that Huawei doesn't have a long, repeated, over and over history of espionage and theft and this is "all" based on Trump's whims? Then you're an even bigger fucking moron than you get credit for already.

    • by Diss Champ ( 934796 ) on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @09:17AM (#58635684)

      There are other companies that could provide (not as good or they would have been chosen first) chips to fill the niche that ARM is in, but those companies are also affected to the best of my knowledge.
      Note also that Huawei might simply keep on making ARM chips despite the lack of support. ARM licenses cores and such, rather than making and selling the hardware. It's not like Huawei has suddenly had all the design information and documentation already given to them vanish. They can even make the gesture of attempting to send royalty payments if they don't want to burn bridges too badly.

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        All the software is written for ARM. X86 phones failed, all others will too.

        Best thing for China now would be to retaliate by invalidating ARM IP and allowing it to be used royalty free. There is precedent too, it's one of the remedies that the WTO can use.

        • All the software is written for ARM.

          Most of the software is written in a portable language, only applications which need the NDK can't just be recompiled, and even some of those can.

          Best thing for China now would be to retaliate by invalidating ARM IP and allowing it to be used royalty free. There is precedent too, it's one of the remedies that the WTO can use.

          China doesn't follow WTO rules, since you have to partner with a Chinese company and be the inferior partner to do business in China. Not sure the WTO is relevant here.

        • by mysidia ( 191772 )

          All the software is written for ARM. X86 phones failed, all others will too.

          That can be changed. The problem was ARM was much much more power efficient than X86. For X86 to work: we need a much denser battery technology than the current predominant battery tech for phones based on lithium salts, because people won't tolerate "a few hours battery runtime" off
            a cellphone like they will with laptops.

        • >Best thing for China now would be to retaliate by invalidating ARM IP and allowing it to be used royalty free.

          Sure, China could steal UK's ARM IP and the US IP ARM licenses for its use, but it would forever be a pariah in the American technology world. It would trigger a massive long term response banning technology transfer of all kinds, including student visas to US Universities and medicine. As time passes, both country's indigenous technology would diverge with both having unique capabilities. It'
        • If the WTO did something like that, it would cease to exist.

          It already ceases to have enforcement powers after this year, unless Trump allows the appointment of new Judges.

          Don't expect Democrats to go out of their way to try to support the WTO, either. Fair Trade is what Democrats want these days.

          • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

            The WTO did do something like that. When the US banned online gambling it affected certain countries very badly, and they complained to the WTO, and one of the remedies was that they could ignore US copyrights to make up for the economic damage.

      • They say stopping IP theft is one of the reasons for the trade war in the first place. But, it seems to be providing the Chinese with incentive to expand that.
        • You're talking in the short term.

          But wouldn't that stop companies from sharing their IP in the future?

          And what happens if they then can't export the products to the US? What if whole ships of goods get turned back by US Customs?

          They already ignore IP laws on their domestic items, so that wouldn't be any change.

      • "They can even make the gesture of attempting to send royalty payments if they don't want to burn bridges too badly."

        Receiving payments from Huawei was not part of the ban, so it wouldn't have been a gesture. What was banned was any transfer of new products or IP, and there was to attempt to require clawing back any products already transferred.

    • Ehhh I don't think this is a partisan thing. Huawei is just egregious to the point we can't continue to look the other way like we do for literally almost everything else Chinese companies get away with.

    • Doesn't it scare nobody that a single fucking monopolistic company is in a position to essentially kill a foreign company at the whim of a single man?

      What would happen to Lenovo, if the US bans Microsoft from supplying Windows to it . . . ?

      • by war4peace ( 1628283 ) on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @09:42AM (#58635832)

        The year of Desktop Linux will come, at last.

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        What would happen to US companies if China banned them from using essential Huawei patents that are part of 5G?

        Imagine American citizens getting arrested for supplying 5G tech to American companies. Qualcomm hardware seized at the border (it's made in China) and then dumped onto the market at fire sale prices. Apple iPhone IP turned over to Huawei as compensation.

        This could get very, very nasty.

        • This could get very, very nasty.

          Back in the 80's lots of folks were worried that the US and the USSR would find some trouble to get themselves into, like a nuclear war.

          Back then, I was totally confident that both the leaders in America and Russia would know that a nuclear war would be very, very nasty. And thus, avoid it.

          However, today, I am totally confident that the leaders in America and China will find some trouble to get themselves into with a very, very nasty trade war.

          Like in any war . . . no one will win . . . but the ordinary

    • Doesn't it scare nobody that a single fucking monopolistic company is in a position to essentially kill a foreign company at the whim of a single man?

      Yes, that would worry me, if it were the case. But it isn't.

      The USA is not the only country concerned about Huawei. And Huawei can choose to use something else. It might be inferior to ARM, but maybe this is the shot in the arm (heh) that RISC-V needs.

      So this is not the action of one man, and this is not necessarily the end of Huawei. You are wrong in every possible way.

    • Doesn't it scare nobody that a single fucking monopolistic company is in a position to essentially kill a foreign company at the whim of a single man?

      While ARM has the largest market share, I don’t know if I’d call it a monopoly. Huawei can use MIPS or design their own non-ARM chips. Huawei can still buy ARM chips from others like Samsung, NVidia, etc. Not being able to design their own ARM chips puts Huawei at a disadvantage but it doesn’t “kill it”.

    • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 ) on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @10:46AM (#58636250)

      It's probably not that bad. This could even lead to easing that particular situation. I wouldn't be surprised if ARM is looking hard at replacing any US-controlled technology in their platform, and China now has an excellent strategic reason to pour some resources into creating an ARM alternative. Or helping ARM extricate themselves from US economic control.

      After the US strong-arming the world over Iran and China, most countries are probably looking to diversify their trade partners.

    • by MightyMartian ( 840721 ) on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @11:23AM (#58636548) Journal

      I'm not clear how the US government determining that a foreign company is essentially a branch of its government, and that refusing to allow it to roll out infrastructure within the United States, or other allied nations for which the United States has very deep-level information sharing agreements with, is somehow rogue activity. Obviously a lot of us have to take the US government at its word, and just as obviously there is the potential that allegations have been made for domestic commercial gain, but with those considerations in mind, and knowing what we do know about China's longstanding IP theft, I think this action is not unreasonable at all.

      A lot of trust has been in China over the last quarter of a century as trade with many developed nations has been liberalized. Its response has been to try to create a hegemony in East Asia and the Pacific, bully neighboring countries with spurious territorial claims, try to greatly increase its sphere of influence in a fashion that makes it clear China intends to create a sort of economic empire. Sure, the US did the same in its turn, but I'm going to be blunt, as a Canadian, I'd sooner hand that mantle to a nation state that by and large shares my country's views on freedom and economic liberty, than on a nation state that has transformed itself from Communist tyranny to technocratic tyranny, that cares nothing for civil liberties, the rule of law, international law, or any other constraint.

      • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

        The US doing its own thing isn't rogue activity, although it is a bit antisocial towards the international community. Every nation has the right to make those sort of decisions for itself. The US's recent habit of declaring that their unilateral sanctions must be obeyed by everyone else, is.

        • The US's recent habit of declaring that their unilateral sanctions must be obeyed by everyone else, is.

          Nope, not a thing.

          The policy is merely that countries that trade with the US have to comply with our sanctions efforts. This is how trade politics between friendly nations has worked for thousands of years; trading with an enemy might be considered hostile. And ideally, countries will make a list and tell their trade partners who those countries are, so they don't have to listen to the wind and guess.

          And quite obviously, if a nation has sanctions against another nation, and you want to execute financial tra

      • >Obviously a lot of us have to take the US government at its word

        There is no need to trust anyone. If the US has evidence they should present it. It's ridiculous to just say to the world "trust us" particularly after what Snowden revealed about them. They don't have a lot of credibility at this point.

      • Obviously a lot of us have to take the US government at its word, and just as obviously there is the potential that allegations have been made for domestic commercial gain

        This is the same US government that instigated tariffs on steel and aluminium imports due from countries like Canada which were not only allies but who also had well-established trade agreements due to "national security concerns". This was an obvious lie made specifically for US commercial gain.

        So, based on the evidence we have available of their previous actions in an incredibly similar situation where we did have all the facts available, this current US government has proven it will lie without compu

    • >> Doesn't it scare nobody that a single fucking monopolistic company is in a position to essentially kill a foreign company at the whim of a single man?

      Do you mean Trump or Xi Jinping? Both of them have this power.
    • by shanen ( 462549 )

      Yes, and it also eliminates the google's claims to be an international company--but how can any company or any person rely on TrumpLand?

      TrumpLand has ALWAYS been at war with China! More or less. You can also substitute any other country for China.

    • Doesn't it scare nobody that a single fucking monopolistic company is in a position to essentially kill a foreign company at the whim of a single man?

      No, what I care a lot more about is that apparently, a company not located in the US has to follow the dictates of a foreign madman when the (admittedly, currently highly dysfunctional) government of the country where the company is located sees no major problems with Huawei.

      This is where having the clout of the EU to back you up would be very useful....but I digress.

  • by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @09:28AM (#58635750)

    When I was younger I had an Apartment, Every year rent was raised at a level much higher then my salary had risen (It was during the Tech Bubble Pop, so my income dropped)
    In order to stop my money from draining, I decided to invest into a multi-family house, where rent pays for most of the mortgage. However my lease was up for renew a couple months before I could close the account. So I had to pay the Apartment complex much more for rent for month to month. After I have finally moved out, I was finally on the path for better financial life. While the Apartment Complex took many months to get that room occupied. Thus costing them more in the long run then it would be for them to keep me at a lower rate, not making me feel like I needed to change my life style.

    A lot of these countries are dependent on the US for trade, however the US isn't making it easy anymore to keep up with these trade rules, so while they are complying now, I expect these businesses are probably finding new customers with countries who will be more apt for trade, thus in the long run cutting off the US.

    Companies really don't care about the politics of the things, but they use to like dealing with the US because we were a stable economy, with predictable set of rules.

    • by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @10:07AM (#58636002)
      folks don't seem to realize that America maintains an empire. We don't notice it because we keep a pretty face on it and don't talk much about it, but the threat of "regime change" is always there. We have more military power than every country on earth combined. Short of nukes you're not going to win a war with us. Even China would fall because our granaries feed their population.

      Let me get this out of the way, I don't like Trump. He's stupid and dangerous. The only reason he's not a night manager at a 7-11 or a Walmart Greeter is we don't punish the elites for financial mistakes.

      That said, he's got a history of saying the quiet part out loud and is happy to make good on threats regardless of the consequences to himself and the people around him. He also doesn't give a damn about allies (most of the people that make him president are in jail and the ones that aren't can barely find work).

      I'm starting to think this goes beyond Trump fishing for bribes like he did with ZTE. I think this is Trump trying to, in his own awkward and dangerous way, play hardball. The trouble is he's doing it with the largest military the world has ever seen.

      The rest of the world can't do a hell of a lot though. They risk Americans doing real empire building wars if they do. If you push people economically they don't make sound decisions, they get desperate and do stupid things. This is well documented. Pressure does not make diamonds, it makes garbage more compact.

      Trump is president because Hillary Clinton ignored 80% of Americans and their economic problems. If the rest of the world puts the squeeze on the US to make a point our fragile economy will collapse and we won't say "Boy, we sure were wrong, time to go back to safe, conservative centrists like Hilary Clinton & Joe Biden". We'll find an even crazier demagogue that offers to fix out problems with war.

      Funny thing is that _will_ fix things. WWII was the best Jobs program in history. Got us to full employment, thinned out working age men nicely and the post war GI bill basically created the middle class.
      • by reanjr ( 588767 )

        By traditional definitions, American does not have an empire. America's global power isn't based on controlling various lands or nations, but in intellectual property and trade agreements. It's monetary policy and control of the IMF that allows us to project our power, not empire.

        America is a post-imperial superpower. We have transcended the very concept of empire. Empire is passé.

  • Because the Chinese never ignore patents and rip off intellectual property...

  • ... who is pulling the strings at this UK company? Some is trying to please his masters...
  • by 4im ( 181450 ) on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @09:48AM (#58635872)

    So, where can Huawei go from here, if they lose their ARM license?

    MIPS? I seem to recall chinese MIPS-based CPUs, but are there implementations needing little enough energy for use in mobile applications?

    What about RISC-V? Anything else?

    As a european, I find the whole Huawei thing troubling. The US have alledged backdoors, but AFAIK without any sort of proof. On the other hand, we know for a fact that Cisco gear was backdoored by CIA's TAO. Much hypocrisy there. I'm not saying there aren't things to be worried about Huawei, but it reeks of a heavy-handed attempt to kill off a serious competitor. And given Trump's "politics", I worry who's going to be next.

    Of course, the worries don't end with trade wars - there's very serious risks about actual war in the middle east and elsewhere, at least in part thanks to that Bolton guy influencing Trump.

    To the US readers: seriously, compare the Trump administration to what happened in Germany in the 1930ies. The parallels are obvious. And don't answer with Godwin's Law - the parallels ARE THERE! Deal with your "leader", please. And with his henchmen, while you're at it.

    • Godwin's Law doesn't state anything about the validity of Nazi comparisons, just that they will happen. The reason for that is it has a trifecta of being the most recent, egregious, belligerent fascist state, and the clearest example to use when discussing dictatorships, nationalism, racism, etc. - WW2 is the period of history the general public has the most knowledge and context on. Blame the History Channel (or the war itself) for that.

      When Godwin's Law gets mentioned nowadays, it's typically a shortcut
    • MIPS? I seem to recall chinese MIPS-based CPUs, but are there implementations needing little enough energy for use in mobile applications?
      What about RISC-V? Anything else?

      You named the only plausible options right there. MIPS tends to be slow. If RISC-V is at least as fast as MIPS now, then RISC-V is the obvious choice. It's on its way up, while MIPS is just sort of crawling along, perpetually in last place. SGI wasn't big enough to fund R&D into modern processors, even by the standards of the day, and the last-place position in the market means that MIPS is perpetually behind even in embedded.

      Then again, MIPS is now going open source [theregister.co.uk], and it's conceivable that this will

      • by HiThere ( 15173 )

        Another possibility is that China could just nationalize the patents that Huawei needs. The US wouldn't like this, but China would have a plausible defense that the US broke the contracts. It might not fly legally (in which country?), but as a PR move it would have a lot of plausibility. And since the US has already banned Huawei, and gotten a few of its allies to go along, it wouldn't have much leverage.

        • Another possibility is that China could just nationalize the patents that Huawei needs.

          The story is about ARM withholding assistance from Huawei. They probably can't come up with performant ARM designs without help, which was how I would have bet even before this story.

        • And since the US has already banned Huawei, and gotten a few of its allies to go along, it wouldn't have much leverage.

          Wait, but what about all the rest of the Chinese imports? Surely there is leverage somewhere in that trade deficit.

          Doesn't it make your head hurt to say shit that stupid?

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • by HiThere ( 15173 )

        I think you're ignoring the fact that China doesn't really need the US. They've got a large enough internal market and enough other trade partners that they can just flip us the bird. It would cost them, but not as much as it would cost the US. And if they really got mad they could start selling dollars cheaply on the international market. (They wouldn't want to do that, because it's to their benefit that the dollar be strong against the yuan, but they could. They hold a huge amount of US currency.)

        Per

        • And if they really got mad they could start selling dollars cheaply on the international market.

          That would be moronic. You're saying they could create a huge arbitrage opportunity, that by definition they would only be able to lose from, and anybody who believes in the US and has entrenched wealth could just press a button and profit.

          They wouldn't push the price down more than a few cents even if they sold all their holdings, because that is free money for rich westerners! And the price would go right back up.

          Same with the US Treasury Bond holdings; there is lots of demand for those. They're welcome t

          • by HiThere ( 15173 )

            How do you measure wealth? You can't do it in money. That said, you're definitely right when you say it would cost them lots.

            As for "lots of demand for US dollars", that's driven by the oil countries selling oil denominated in dollars, which is driven by the threat of US intervention domestically. If a country had a strong sponsor (e.g. China) then the US couldn't intervene, and they might sell in, e.g., Euros. As Iraq started to do before we, ahem, found they were building missiles. There's more than

      • Most of the left was against the WTO and rules-free trade all along.

        Democrats aren't running against Trump by supporting China, they're supporting switching to Fair Trade, and that sort of policy is going to be much worse for China than anything Trump has done.

        Where do you get your news, cable tee-vee? Or a newsletter?

    • MIPS and RISC-V are under American ownership, so they too would be affected by the ban if it went back into effect. Huawei could fork from the last version before the ban, but they could do the same with their licensed ARM IP and all would have the same loss of compatibility.

      Luckily, designing bespoke crappy processors is a standard undergraduate homework assignment these days so they can just roll their own.

    • >Deal with your "leader", please. And with his henchmen, while you're at it.

      The vast majority of US citizens aren't happy either and there is an election soon. Democracy, capitalism and free speech can lead to unintended consequences. Sometimes the US is first in the world, and this is not a good thing when we're the first to go over a cliff.

      Nationalism is on the rise in Europe too. Learn from our mistakes and God help you if you repeat them.
    • As a european, I find the whole Huawei thing troubling. The US have alledged backdoors, but AFAIK without any sort of proof. On the other hand, we know for a fact that Cisco gear was ...

      Don't be a maroon.

      The US is demanding that Europe buy European networking gear, instead of Chinese. The US isn't even making the latest generation of gear; the companies working on the R&D are working with European manufacturers who will actually make and sell the products.

      You're not willing to buy European gear instead of Chinese gear because, something-something about Cisco and John fucking Bolton?!

      The fact is, as a European you're wringing your hands because you're ignorant of the details, and your o

    • by reanjr ( 588767 )

      Turns out open source software and open hardware are important and should be generously funded by governments around the world. Hmmm...

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