The biggest smartphone producer of China started 2019 with incredible numbers. Huawei was underway to take over the world’s number one phone maker; Samsung (Savov, 2019). But, in May 2019, President Trump signed an executive order. “This executive order gives the federal government of The United States the power to block US companies from buying foreign-made telecommunications equipment deemed a national security risk” (Lecher, 2019). What does this executive order imply for Huawei?

First of all, this executive order is against foreign-made telecommunications, but in hindsight this executive order is seen as a plan against Huawei. The United States claims that China’s government is able to impose companies like Huawei to install backdoors in their equipment to spy on American networks (Lecher, 2019). However, Huawei stated multiple times that something like a backdoor could not happen. Moreover, the CEO of Huawei; Ren Zhengfei stated that the executive order from President Trump won’t stop the international growth of Huawei (Lecher, 2019).

The consequences for Huawei in Europe and The United States are considerable. Strictly speaking, “Huawei is losing its licensing agreement with Google for the provision of Google Play Services and access to the Google Play Store on new Huawei Android devices” (Savov, 2019). This means that Huawei devices won’t get any updates until Huawei get its licensing agreement back. Besides the fact that Huawei devices are not able to update their operating system. The threat exist that the Android operating system completely vanished from Huawei (Savov, 2019). Due to this threat and uncertainty, Byford (2019) would not advise you buying a Huawei phone currently. Personally, I would not buy a Huawei phone right now because of the same reasons mentioned above. However, in China, Huawei operates without the Play Store from android successfully. WeChat is evolved from an app to an operating system even bigger than Android (Savov, 2019).

All in all, Huawei is in the middle of a clash between the two biggest economies of the world and the consequences are not favourable. The consequences for Huawei in China are probably less considerable, but time will tell how Huawei will develop in Europe and The United States

Sources:

Byford, S. (2019, May 20). Seven questions we still have about Huawei’s US blacklisting. Retrieved 24 September 2019, from https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/20/18632265/seven-questions-we-still-have-about-huaweis-us-blacklisting

Lecher, C. (2019, May 15). White House cracks down on Huawei equipment sales with executive order. Retrieved 24 September 2019, from https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/15/18216988/white-house-huawei-china-equipment-ban-trump-executive-order

Savov, V. (2019, May 20). Huawei’s phone business would be decimated without Google’s Android. Retrieved 24 September 2019, from https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/20/18632266/huawei-android-google-ban-phone-business-future

It all started with a claim from treasury secretary Steve Mnunchin who said the following: “although Amazon has provided certain benefits to the consumer, Amazon destroyed the retail industry across the United States”. According to Steve Mnunchin, Amazon limited competition and he agrees with the Department of Justice investigating Amazon with regards to abusing its position. But are the claims from Steve Mnunchin true (Ciacci, 2019)?

According to Karl W. Smith the Brick-and-Mortar retail is not matching the growth of online retail. But he thinks there are more reasons behind the decrease in growth. He states that Americans are spending their time differently as they grow older and wealthier. People tend to start companies on a young age, as the United States is aging, it makes sense that the growth of Brick-and-Mortar retail is not matching the growth of online retail. Moreover, older people are more likely to be loyal to traditional brands, hence why new companies have a tough time (Smith, 2019).

Karl W. Smith also responds on the investigation of Amazon. He refers to the United States antitrust law as an institution which protects consumers, not rival producers. He said: “if a large corporation can offer better selection at lower prices than small businesses, that’s an improvement”. The interpretation that big companies itself create problems is winning ground regarding the courts. This would be a big mistake; small businesses are the engine of the United States economy and growth. But if you do not allow them to develop into a big company, the economy of the United States will suffer (Smith, 2019).

In my opinion Amazon is creating a platform for smaller retailers and keeps them alive. Amazon is not destroying the retail industry but reinventing the retail industry. I am wondering if Amazon will be the only big platform in a couple of years. Because for instance Bol.com is changing from a retailer to a platform as well, will they all survive (van Amstel, 2019)?

Sources:

https://www.foxnews.com/tech/amazon-destroyed-retail-industry-mnuchin

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-07-29/amazon-is-saving-retail-not-destroying-it

https://twinklemagazine.nl/2019/02/bol.com-platform-first/index.xml