The U.S. is reportedly close to restoring Huawei’s global chip supply

Chipmakers such as TSMC could soon receive licenses from the U.S. Commerce Department to resume supply of components to Huawei.

What you need to know

• The U.S. has reportedly decided to allow some chipmakers to sell components to Huawei.
• However, Huawei will still not be able to buy components for its 5G business.
• While the sanctions will continue to hurt its 5G business, they will allow Huawei to remain a major player in the global smartphone market.

If a new report from the Financial Times is to be believed, Huawei may soon get major relief from the U.S. The report claims the U.S. is allowing some chipmakers to resume supply of components to Huawei, as long as they are not intended for use for the Chinese company's 5G business.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has apparently 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." Executives at two Asian chip companies told Financial Times they were optimistic that their applications for licenses to supply to Huawei would soon be approved. The Department of Commerce is said to have "indicated" recently that chips for mobile devices aren't a problem.

Earlier this week, Samsung Electronics was granted a U.S. license to supply OLED displays to Huawei for use in its smartphones.Sony and OmniVision have also reportedly been granted licenses to sell CMOS image sensors to Huawei.

The most recent restrictions on Huawei, which were announced in August, bar Huawei from purchasing any chips made using American technology. TSMC, which manufactured Kirin chipsets for Huawei, was forced to stop supplying chips to Huawei due to the restrictions.

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