The effective trade ban could seriously damage Huawei's ability to do business. The company depends on Intel chips both for its servers as well as PCs like the MateBook X Pro. Broadcom and Xilinx supply chips for its networking business. And while Huawei makes its own processors for many of its phones, it may still need Qualcomm for some chips.

The chip companies have so far declined to comment.

Huawei has reportedly been preparing for a possibility like this by stockpiling components and designing its own chips. It's betting that an end to the US-China trade war will come soon enough to avert catastrophe. However, it might only have enough supply for a few months. If the trade war doesn't end soon or doesn't lead to a thaw in US relations, Huawei may be forced to either find alternatives or lose important parts of its business. China won't like that -- Huawei is one of the country's shining beacons, and a decline on its part could have far-reaching implications for the Chinese economy.

Video

Presenter: Dana Wollman

Script: Dana Wollman

Script Editor: Nathan Ingraham

Editor: Chris Schodt

Producer & Camera: Michael Morris