Huawei has been barred from the SD Association, meaning it will no longer be able to sell products which support official SD and microSD card standards.
The SD Association confirmed to Engadget that it barred Huawei from membership in order to comply with orders from the US government.
Huawei was placed on the US Entity List last week due to the US government’s belief that it was undermining US interests.
This resulted in the Chinese company losing its Android licence, along with a number of US technologies which it has previously implemented in its smartphones and other devices.
Speaking to Android Authority, Huawei said that microSD cards would still work in its existing devices, but did not state whether this move would affect future smartphones.
“The use of SD cards on Huawei smartphone won’t be affected. Consumers can continue purchasing and using these products,” said Huawei.
Plan B
Huawei has prepared for this crackdown from US government and reportedly has a Plan B in place for many of its product lineups.
Despite its widespread integration of US technologies such as ARM, Android, and microSD standards, Huawei has the capacity to manufacture its own chips and design its own operating system for smartphones.
Huawei even developed its own expandable storage standard for smartphones for its latest flagship devices, with the new Huawei P30 Pro supporting nanoSD cards.
The nanoSD form factor is the same as a nanoSIM, meaning customers can use the second slot for another SIM or expandable storage.
Huawei has stated that it is still in discussions with US companies regarding the effects of the US government ban, and it is also hosting internal discussions to determine viable solutions to the issue.
