According to foreign media reports, affected by the US ban, WiFi Alliance, SD Association, International Solid State Technology Association (JEDEC), PCI-SIG Peripheral Component Interconnect Professional Group Standards Organization and USB-IF (USB Standardization Organization) have already been members of Huawei. Eligibility is temporarily suspended.

“The WiFi Alliance fully complies with the recent orders of the US Department of Commerce, but it does not revoke Huawei’s technology membership. The WiFi Alliance temporarily restricted Huawei’s participation in the WiFi Alliance activities covered by the project.” The WiFi Alliance subsequently responded to the message, saying that, Huawei is still in the WiFi membership list.  It is reported that the WiFi Alliance is called the International WiFi Alliance. It was established in 1999 and is responsible for WiFi authentication and trademark licensing. The main purpose is to set wireless technology standards on a global scale, and to implement compatible certification and trademark authorization for WiFi products. Currently, there are more than 800 members in the alliance.

At the same time, in the statement issued by the foreign media, the SD Association confirmed that Huawei has been removed from the membership list, which is the result of the US government’s restrictions on Chinese companies. The SD Association organizes standards for technologies in SD and microSD cards. After Huawei is removed from the member list, the company will no longer be able to support microSD external storage in its devices.

However, Huawei has begun to use Nano memory (NM) expansion memory cards in the Mate 20 Pro and P30 Pro phones. The NM expansion memory card is known as “small”, which is about 45% smaller than the traditional SD card, saving a large part of the space. The NM expansion memory card is Huawei’s unique technology. Huawei owns the patent for NM micro memory card.  Huawei has confirmed cooperation with Toshiba, and the NM micro memory card is produced by the latter.

The International Solid State Technology Association (JEDEC) also said that it has complied with the US Department of Commerce’s ban on Huawei, and will stop Huawei and its subsidiaries from participating in all JEDEC activities until the US government stops Huawei’s ban.

Regarding the decision of the above associations, on May 26, Huawei issued a statement on the qualifications of standards organizations, stating that Huawei’s products and services now and in the future will not be subject to individual organizations that violate the principles of transparency, openness, impartiality, and non-discrimination. On the basis of complying with applicable laws and regulations, Huawei will, as always, actively participate in relevant standards and industrial organizations, and through unremitting contributions, together with customers and partners, build a healthy, fair, open and sustainable industrial ecosystem.

However, on the afternoon of May 26, Huawei’s statement link could not be opened. The Huawei staff told the media that due to the special period, the external situation changed rapidly and the public sentiment was also received. Some customer feedbacks were received, and the previous review was not safe enough. It was being re-examined and the statement was updated.

For the limited membership of several major associations, the US technology website CNET believes that although Huawei has been revoked membership, Huawei can still use the current technology of WiFi and SD memory cards. However, because these international organizations are setting industry standards, temporarily losing the membership of these organizations also means that Huawei will lose its position influencing the direction of technological development in the industry for a certain period of time. It can be a passive “bystander”, not an active “rule maker”.

However, while limiting Huawei’s qualifications, these industries themselves have lost the participation of Huawei, an important technology supplier. According to the information disclosed by Huawei, the company has joined more than 400 standards organizations, industry alliances, and open source communities, and has served in more than 400 important positions. In 2018, Huawei submitted more than 5,000 standard proposals and submitted nearly 60,000 articles.