Staff at UK-based ARM ‘told to suspend business with Huawei’

UK-based chip designer ARM has reportedly informed employees not to work with Chinese tech giant Huawei.

Internal documents obtained by the BBC reportedly tell staff to suspend “all active contracts, support entitlements, and any pending engagements” with the firm following an executive order issued by American president Donald Trump last week, prohibiting the technology of “foreign adversaries” using US tech without government approval.

The Cambridge-based firm, which was acquired by Japanese telecom company Softbank in September 2016, licenses processor designs found in many smartphones globally.

It is claimed ARM is concerned it is affected by Mr Trump’s order because its designs use “US origin technology”.

A spokeswoman for the firm did not comment on the leaked memo directly but said: “ARM is complying with all of the latest regulations set forth by the US government.”

Huawei is yet to react to the latest development, days after Google confirmed it was restricting Huawei’s access to the Android operating system which its mobile devices rely on.

The block means new and yet-to-be released Huawei phones are unlikely to be able to access Google apps as part of Android, although a temporary license and grace period sanctioned by the US government will initially allow support for existing devices until August.

Earlier, EE chief executive Marc Allera said it had chosen to “pause” the sale of Huawei 5G phones for its 5G launch, amid ongoing tensions between the US and the Chinese company.

Huawei has pledged to sign “no-spy” agreements with countries including the UK to ease concerns about its technology.

The UK Government is yet to announce a decision on the company’s presence in 5G networks.