Huawei’s line of Matebook laptops including the recently released MateBook X Pro refresh have disappeared from Microsoft’s official Store.
In the wake of Google suspending support for Huawei’s Android phones – which will see the likes of Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, and the Google Play Store disappeared from phones like the P30 Pro – Microsoft has now stopped selling Huawei laptops on its store.
You can see find traces of Huawei-specific apps, like ‘Huawei Matebook E 2019 Keyboard FW updates’ in the Store, and listings for older, and now-unavailable MateBooks, but searches for newer devices like the Huawei MateBook 14 and the new X Pro yield nothing – although cached versions of pages were available to view at the time of writing.
Related: Best laptops
Huawei has found itself caught up in a bitter trade dispute between the United States and China. The latest blow, an executive order from the White House, doesn’t mention Huawei by name, but mentions “foreign adversaries” and effectively is a mandate for a ban on the sale and use of telecoms equipment which may pose a risk to the U.S.’s national security, infrastructure and digital economy.
The Chinese telecoms giant has long been viewed with suspicion by western governments. Since 2010, the company agreed to hand over all equipment, from network switches to budget mobile phones, to the UK’s Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC) for inspection. Last year, HCSEC oversight board said that analysis of Huawei network gear “exposed new risks in UK telecoms networks.”
Related: Everything you need to know about the Huawei Android ban
Since the signing of the executive order, chipmakers Intel, ARM, and Qualcomm have also severed ties with Huawei.
While you can still pick up Huawei laptops from retailers like Amazon and Currys PC World, questions remain over whether Microsoft would continue to support Huawei devices. It’s unlikely that support would continue while the executive order remains in place, or if Huawei could roll out a ‘Plan B’ desktop OS of its own in a matter of months.
Trusted Reviews reached out to several Huawei and Microsoft sources and spokespeople – at the time of publication, nobody from either company was available for comment.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
