Over the last few months, ZTE has found itself under significant scrutiny in the U.S. after the company was found to have breached sanctions against Iran and North Korea earlier this year. This led to the smartphone manufacturer shutting down the majority of its operations after imports were blocked by the U.S. Government. Eventually, a deal was brokered to get the business moving again that included a hefty fine of one billion dollars.
However, it hasn't exactly been smooth sailing for other Chinese manufacturers of electronics, such as Huawei which tried partnering up with AT&T to get a foothold in the US smartphone market early last year. Ultimately, those efforts failed, prompting Huawei to examine other opportunities but, since then, the company's partnership with Google has drawn ire from the U.S. Congress although what specific aspect remains unclear.
Now, in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche, one of Huawei's rotating chairmen, Ken Hu, addressed whether or not he was concerned if the business could end up being sanctioned itself, and said:
It would be hard to imagine. Ten years ago we put in place a system to control our exports, which has become very efficient. Our policy is to closely implement all laws and regulations introduced by Europe, the United Nations and the United States.
The chairman was also asked if the company could forgo the inclusion of US components in its products. Hu cited that Huawei's logistical chain was international and that it “must be open and choose the best technologies, the best products. We will therefore keep buying American chips this year.”
While the chairman's last statement gives an idea of the manufacturer's strategy for the short term, it does raise the question as to what Huawei might do in years to come given that it has already demonstrated its ability to design its own SoCs such as the Kirin 970 found in its Honor 10 smartphone.
Source: Reuters
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