Huawei's US-made FPGA chips are in short supply. Can the "spare tire" take over the task?

The Washington Post quoted Joe Madden, chief analyst at Mobile Experts, a research firm based in California, as saying that Huawei's inventory of American chips and other components will run out.

The report pointed out that what Huawei is about to run out of are the FPGA chips used in communication equipment including 5G base stations, which come from Xilinx, a major American semiconductor manufacturer. Its programmable logic devices (FPGAs) are the world's largest.

Since the incident involving Meng Wanzhou and the US Entity List, Huawei has started a backup plan by bringing out its self-developed chips that it has accumulated over the years. On the other hand, Huawei has long anticipated US sanctions and has been stockpiling a large number of parts that may be affected by sanctions, as well as transferring orders to parts suppliers that are not affected by the US to ensure the supply of parts. It is estimated that Huawei's inventory can guarantee a one-year buffer period.

In addition, due to the US sanctions, Huawei has turned to supporting domestic suppliers. Currently, many domestic suppliers have entered Huawei's supply chain system. To some extent, the US sanctions on Huawei have accelerated the development of China's semiconductor industry.

Ren Zhengfei previously stated that Huawei has begun producing 5G base stations that do not contain American components, and the Washington Post also pointed out that Huawei will switch to its own products. Of course, although Huawei has an omnipotent appearance, it is not perfect in everything, and the backup plan is also a helpless measure. The performance of its self-developed chips is still a certain distance away from the world's leading manufacturers. Ren Zhengfei has also repeatedly expressed the hope that there will be win-win cooperation with the world, and that he will always firmly support globalization. He will never just focus on patching the "plane" and forget to continue on the road of globalization.