For years, the American government hounded Chinese companies for allegedly giving China an easy backdoor into the United States. The allegations don’t normally happen from the other way around, though. Today is different. The Chinese government has accused the United States of hacking into Huawei servers since 2009.

It’s an uncommon turn of events. In a Weibo post (via Nikkei Asia), China’s Ministry of State Security claimed that it discovered evidence of American hackers breaking into Chinese servers.

According to the post, the U.S. government’s Office of Tailored Access Operations used spyware to access Huawei’s servers since 2009. The spyware involved was called Second Date, a piece of spyware that was, according to the Chinese post, “developed by the U.S. National Security Agency.”

The spyware was partially discovered by Qihoo 360, an agency investigating American-led hacking attacks against China. The mere discovery, however, does not include explicit references to Huawei as a target.

China’s retaliation against the United States is slowly ramping up. Recently, the Chinese government started banning its officials from using iPhones for work. A wider ban might even be in the works.

For the United States, the American government is also investigating Huawei once again. After the surprising launch of the Mate 60 series, the government is interested to see how the Chinese company can still make smartphones without American technology.

SEE ALSO: Analyst: Qualcomm will fall as Huawei rises again

Since the start of Apple Silicon, the company has been trying to replace its third-party components with in-house ones. One component that it still lacks is an in-house 5G modem chip. Despite ongoing development, it seems that the component is still forthcoming. Qualcomm, Apple’s partner for modems, has just inked a new deal, extending its partnership with Apple until 2026.

Originally, Apple was set to end its deal with Qualcomm this year. Previous rumors reported that the in-house 5G modem was developing well. Today, the chipmaking company officially confirmed that it will continue to supply Apple with 5G chips for “smartphone launches in 2024, 2025, and 2026.”

While the announcement does not explicitly mention specific models, it’s clear that the in-house modem is not ready to take over the entire lineup until 2026. Apple can still introduce the modem at any point before 2026. However, it’s likely that such an introduction would be gradual, instead of a complete takeover.

The new deal is still big for Qualcomm, though. Huawei’s sudden resurgence with Kirin can potentially damage Qualcomm’s sales. After all, Huawei was a major customer for the chipmaker. With the renewed deal today, Qualcomm keeps a customer for the foreseeable future.

SEE ALSO: Analyst: Qualcomm will fall as Huawei rises again

The decline of Huawei is finally at an end. After the bans from the American government sank the company’s dominance, the Chinese brand is bouncing back. Its biggest salvo to mark the new era was the launch of the Mate 60 series. According to an analyst, the series isn’t just a win for Huawei but also a loss for Qualcomm.

Qualcomm versus Kirin

The Mate 60 series touted a new chipset: the 5G Kirin 9000 series. The 7nm chipset was reportedly manufactured by China’s SMIC. Now, the key to Huawei’s new chip is that it was made in China, reducing the reliance on foreign companies.

According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the in-house, China-made chipset will ultimately harm Qualcomm. After all, Huawei is (or was) one of the biggest customers for Qualcomm. The Chinese brand often used the latter’s chipsets to boost its smartphones’ performance. However, the bans from several years ago severed ties between the two. Eventually, Qualcomm reportedly received a license to continue business with Huawei but only for 4G chipsets.

Now, with Huawei firmly investing in its own chipsets, the long-standing relationship between Huawei and Qualcomm might finally be at an end. Kuo expects that Huawei will no longer order as many chips from the chipset maker anymore.

Further, the analyst predicts that other Chinese brands might also reduce their orders from Qualcomm. “Qualcomm’s SoC shipments to Chinese smartphone brands in 2024 are expected to be at least 50-60 million units lower than in 2023,” he writes.

On the political side

The American government isn’t taking the new developments lightly, though. According to Reuters, Representative Mike Gallagher is pushing the Commerce Department to end all American tech exports to China. Huawei’s latest chipsets “likely could not be produced without US technology,” the representative said.

The implication is clear. Gallagher believes that the new Kirin 900 chipsets are in direct violation of the ongoing American bans started in 2019.

Also recently, the Chinese government started ordering its officials to stop using Apple and other foreign brands for work. As a result, Apple’s stock value dipped from the loss.

Despite how long the bans have been ongoing, the trade war between the United States and China — with Huawei still being the center of it all — is still alive and well.

SEE ALSO: Huawei surprisingly reveals the Mate 60 Pro with three punch holes