Chipset suppliers — Intel and Qualcomm – are expected to feel the heat after the cancellation of their license for exports to China.
Intel said its sales would take a hit after the U.S. revoked some of the chipmaker’s export licenses for a customer in China.
Intel did not disclose the name of the Chinese customer that had licenses canceled in its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Reuters had reported on Tuesday the U.S. has revoked licenses that allowed companies, including Intel and Qualcomm, to ship chips used for laptops and handsets to sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies.
Industry believes that Intel has supplied its new Core Ultra 9 processor to Huawei for making MateBook X Pro, its first AI-enabled laptop, in April.
Intel said it expects revenue for the second quarter to remain in the range of $12.5 billion to $13.5 billion, but below the midpoint.
Qualcomm said on Wednesday that one of its export licenses for Huawei had been revoked.
“Huawei is a threat,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Reuters after a congressional hearing on Wednesday, adding that the move was not a change in policy.
“Maybe we have an increased focus on AI. And so when we learn more about AI capabilities, that’s when we have to take action,” she said. “So if a chip that we previously licensed for example, now we discover had AI capabilities, we’re going to revoke the license.”
The Chinese foreign ministry, which has criticized every effort by the U.S. to crack down on tech exports to China, said in a statement it opposed the move and that the U.S. was “over-stretching the concept of national security and abusing export controls to suppress Chinese companies without justification.”
