Anchor: As top American IT companies sever ties with Huawei following the Trump administration's crackdown on Chinese tech firms, South Korean tech companies are closely monitoring the situation. Observers in Seoul say that Huawei's competitors including Samsung Electronics can partially benefit from the sanctions. 
Celina Yoon has more. 

Report: Analysts in Seoul expect that U.S. sanctions on Chinese telecommunications company Huawei will not have an immediate impact on South Korean IT firms. 

KB Securities noted in a report on Tuesday that the slowdown of Huawei’s smartphone business would have a negligible impact on Korean chipmakers since the Chinese firm takes up less than five percent of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix's semiconductor revenue. 

In fact, it added that Samsung could increase its market share for low-cost smartphones in Europe and South America as well as make gains in the fifth-generation network and semiconductor segments. 

Last week, the Trump administration effectively banned American firms from doing business with Huawei, deeming it as a national security threat. 

According to industry tracker Strategy Analytics, Samsung is the world's number one smartphone maker with a 21-point-seven percent market share in the first quarter of this year, closely followed by Huawei at 17-point-nine percent. 

Korea Investment & Securities agreed in a report that Huawei would have problems in smartphone manufacturing as it had been getting a considerable portion of chips from U.S. companies. 

Daniel Yoo, head of global research at Kiwoom Securities, referred to the U.S. Commerce Department's move to grant a 90-day reprieve for transactions necessary to maintain and support existing cellular networks and handsets. 

[Sound bite: Daniel Yoo - Global Strategist, Head of Global Research Team at Kiwoom Securities]
"The U.S. government on Monday temporarily eased some trade restrictions imposed last week on China’s Huawei, a move that sought to minimize the destruction of the telecom company’s customers around the world, so the real impact would be probably minimum."

However, Yoo said that if the U.S.-China trade dispute continues, the overall sales of Huawei would probably dwindle while Korean companies’ sales numbers should pick up due to changes in customers' interests. 
Celina Yoon, KBS World Radio News.