HUAWEI pushed out of Wi-Fi Alliance (Update: Reinstated)

Update, May 29, 2019 (12:35 PM ET): Not long after the SD Association brought HUAWEI back into the fold, we now have news (via Digital Trends) that HUAWEI is also back in the Wi-Fi Alliance.

The company was pushed out of the Alliance late last week, as described in the article below.

The Wi-Fi Alliance hasn’t issued a statement about HUAWEI’s reinstated membership, but the official site does show HUAWEI as a member once again.

Although this reinstatement means that HUAWEI can once again use the official Wi-Fi seal on its products going forward, it, more importantly, means that HUAWEI will continue to have early-access and influence over new Wi-Fi technologies. Read below for more info on what this means.

In related news, HUAWEI is also back in the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC), a consortium which sets global standards for the microelectronics industry.

Original Article, May 24, 2019 (05:45 PM ET): The dominoes keep tumbling for Huawei since the Trump administration added the company to its so-called Entity List, effectively barring the Chinese telco from doing business with organizations based in the United States.

So far, HUAWEI has lost access to Google, Android, Qualcomm, Intel, Microsoft, and — perhaps most devastatingly — Arm. Now, it is also temporarily losing its membership in the Wi-Fi Alliance (via Nikkei Asian Review), which could have serious long-term effects on its business.

Here is a statement on the matter from the Alliance:

“Wi-Fi Alliance is fully complying with the recent U.S. Department of Commerce order without revoking HUAWEI Technologies membership. Wi-Fi Alliance has temporarily restricted HUAWEI Technologies participation in Wi-Fi Alliance activities covered by the order.”

The Wi-Fi Alliance is a consortium of companies — including Apple, Qualcomm, Broadcom, and Intel, as well as many others — who influence the development of new wireless technologies. Although HUAWEI’s temporary loss of membership doesn’t mean the company can’t create Wi-Fi products anymore, it does mean HUAWEI will no longer have an influence on where Wi-Fi technology is going.

In other words, if its loss of membership in the Wi-Fi Alliance sticks, it won’t have much of a short-term effect; in the long-term, it could mean HUAWEI will be far less competitive.

A possible response to this could be HUAWEI and China developing their own Wi-Fi consortium or joining with other consortiums not based in the U.S. While these are viable options, without a membership to the U.S.-based Wi-Fi Alliance, HUAWEI will have a seriously difficult time competing in the global market.

In related news, HUAWEI was also barred from the SD Association today, and several HUAWEI devices were also removed from the Android Enterprise Recommended program.

NEXT: Trump open to trade deal involving ‘very dangerous’ HUAWEI