Huawei canned the release of a laptop as the nightmare fallout from its US blacklisting continues

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Huawei canned the release of a laptop as the nightmare fallout from its US blacklisting continues

Huawei Matebook

Josep Lago/AFP/Getty Images

Richard Yu, Huawei's head of consumer products.

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  • Huawei has canned the launch of one of its new laptops after being blacklisted in the US.
  • Sources told The Information that the laptop was pulled after US trade sanctions blocked its access to Microsoft's Windows operating system and Intel's processors.
  • Huawei's laptops run on the Windows operating system.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The pressure is mounting on Huawei.

This week, the Chinese tech giant admitted to canceling the launch of one of its new laptops after being banned from doing business with US suppliers

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Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei's consumer business, told CNBC. "We cannot supply the PC," he said, adding that the situation is "unfortunate."

Sources familiar with the matter told The Information that its new Windows laptop, which was meant to be unveiled at the CES Asia 2019 trade show in Shanghai this week, was pulled because US trade sanctions blocked its access to Microsoft's Windows operating system and Intel's processors, which it relies on to function.

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Huawei has been placed on an "entity list" which means US companies need permission to do business with the Chinese tech firm from August. Google is said to be lobbying against the decision.

Read more: Microsoft hasn't said a word so far about Huawei's ban in the US, but it removed Huawei laptops from its stores

It doesn't look like we can expect the laptop to launch anytime soon. When asked by CNBC whether it could still launch, Yu said: [It] "depends on how long the entity list will be there."

Taiwanese news site Digitimes also reported earlier this week that Huawei had paused the delivery and development of its laptops.

A spokesperson for Huawei did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

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Huawei previously acknowledged that it is speeding up efforts to develop its own smartphone operating system and app store to reduce the impact of trade sanctions.

It has also reportedly stopped some smartphone production lines and has "reassessed" its target to become the world's top smartphone vendor by the end of 2020.

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