Huawei founder Ren Zhengei issued support for Apple, saying he would not support any retaliatory ban against the company in China. (Image: Bloomberg) Huawei founder Ren Zhengei issued support for Apple, saying he would not support any retaliatory ban against the company in China. (Image: Bloomberg)

Even as Huawei faces an uncertain future given the US President Donald Trump’s ban on the company trading with other US technology majors, the founder of the Chinese firm has said he would not support any ban on Apple in China. Huawei founder Ren Zhengei told Bloomberg News in that he was against any potential China ban Apple.

Speculation is that China could retaliate against the US ban of Huawei by banning some US companies in the country, and that Apple could possibly face this. Goldman Sachs analysts are already estimating that Apple will lose nearly a third of its profit if China banned its products. But the Huawei founder does not think this will happen.

“That will not happen, first of all. And second of all, if that happens, I’ll be the first to protest,” Ren was quoted in the interview. “Apple is my teacher, it’s in the lead. As a student, why go against my teacher? Never.”

This is not the first time that Ren has come out to praise Apple during the US ban crisis. Earlier, he was quoted by the South China Morning Post as saying that he admired the iPhone ecosystem, and has himself bought iPhones for his family when abroad.

The Huawei chairman said, “iPhone has a good ecosystem and when my family are abroad, I still buy them iPhones, so one can’t narrowly think love for Huawei should mean loving Huawei phones.” He had also discouraged the idea that one should associated patriotism in China with buying Huawei phones.

Read more: How Trump’s Huawei ban could impact the global tech industry

With Google cancelling the Huawei Android license, the future of its smartphones is also unclear. It is unclear if Huawei will introduce its own operating system on future phones. ARM Holdings has also suspended business with the company, which means that Huawei’s Kirin chipsets will no longer be able to use the ARM architecture for their mobile processors.

With Microsoft and Intel also suspending business, Huawei’s laptops like the MateBook X Pro also face an uncertain future. The Wi-Fi alliance and SD association have also suspended business with Huawei. However, Huawei said that microSD cards will still work on its existing devices, according to a report on Android Authority.

For Huawei though, the troubles extend beyond smartphones with the US ban. Its 5G telecom business is also impacted. In the 5G telecom business, rivals Nokia, Ericsson could get the lead given that Huawei has an export ban.

With inputs from Bloomberg

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