Troubles are mounting for Chinese tech giant Huawei as Microsoft has removed the Huawei MateBook X Pro Windows laptop from the Microsoft Store. Additionally, chip designing giant ARM has also announced that it has stopped working with Huawei.

Trouble started for Huawei when the US started suspecting that the Chinese giant was spying on the country. Although these suspicions date back to almost a decade ago, the Trump administration initiated action against Huawei by first banning it from the country’s 5G infrastructure setup. Subsequently, with the US-China trade war getting worse, the US finally put Huawei on a trade blacklist last week.

As a result of this, Google had to first revoke Huawei’s Android license before subsequently suspending the revocation the next day. While Huawei currently still has its Android license, it is temporary as things stand right now – the US Commerce Department has given Huawei a temporary relief for 90 days, primarily to avoid disruptions in the company’s existing setup.

Microsoft to ban Huawei soon?

Microsoft is the latest entrant in the list of companies that have either stopped working with Huawei or banned it. While Microsoft has not officially announced anything in this regard, the Windows maker has removed the Huawei MateBook X Pro from the Windows Store. This could also mean that a Windows ban is incoming for Huawei, making matters worse for the company.

While Microsoft has so far remained mum on this issue, it may not have much of a choice in the end. As such, a Windows ban on Huawei might be incoming soon.

Other US tech giants like Intel, Qualcomm and Broadcom have also joined in on the Huawei ban, signalling deep trouble for the Chinese giant in the near future.

ARM stops working with Huawei

ARM, the British chip designing giant, has reportedly asked its employees to stop working on “all active contracts, support entitlements, and any pending engagements”.

Although ARM is a UK-based company, it may have been obligated to ban Huawei because its designs reportedly contain “technology of US origin”.

What does all of this mean for Huawei?

While trade wars can be complicated and often difficult to understand, the Huawei ban by the US can have some serious effects on the functioning of Huawei as a consumer tech company. While the Android ban alone would’ve rendered Huawei’s future smartphone plans useless, bans from companies like ARM will have a far deeper impact on Huawei.

This is primarily because Huawei relies on ARM for basic designs for its HiSilicon Kirin chipsets. In fact, all smartphone chipsets use ARM design, regardless of which company makes the chipsets. This includes Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung’s Exynos and Huawei’s HiSilicon Kirin.

Being banned by ARM will mean that Huawei will have to use an alternative microarchitecture and design its own chipsets from the ground up. It could take years of time before Huawei can come up with a reasonable solution.

Essentially, even if Huawei manages to come up with an alternative to Android, it will be forced to use its existing chipsets until it can come up with its own designs.

Either that or the US and China settle their disputes before the 90-day extension comes to an end.