Huawei membership in Wi-Fi Alliance, SD Association suspended

More companies are removing or limiting their ties with Huawei in response to its US blacklisting, and this time it’s the Wi-Fi Alliance and the SD Association.

In a report by Nikkei, the Wi-Fi Alliance said that it has “temporarily restricted” Huawei, limiting the Chinese company’s voice when it comes to setting Wi-Fi standards.

The Wi-Fi Alliance is a non-profit organization that promotes Wi-Fi technology and certifies Wi-Fi products for conformity to certain standards of interoperability.

Meanwhile, JEDEC, another standards organization for semiconductors, has also confirmed to Nikkei that Huawei has voluntarily decided to withdraw its membership.

“On May 17, 2019, Huawei Technologies notified JEDEC that it had decided to voluntarily suspend its membership in JEDEC until the restrictions imposed by the U.S. government are removed,” a JEDEC spokesperson told Nikkei.

The SD Association (SDA), on the other hand, a non-profit organization that sets memory card standards, also told Nikkei that the “the SD Association is complying with U.S. Department of Commerce orders.” As a result, Huawei is no longer a listed member in the SDA.

Huawei has issued a statement to Nikkei saying that it “values its relationships with all partners and associations around the world and understands the difficult situation they are in,” and is hopeful the situation will be resolved and are working to find the best solution.

The effect of the restriction

The restrictions will put Huawei in a more difficult situation as it will not have a say when it comes to formulating new global standards for future devices. The company, however, can still develop products using the current standards.

source: Nikkei