Huawei Recruits Smartphone Partners To Sidestep US Sanctions (bloomberg.com) 30
Huawei, whose smartphone business has been devastated by U.S. sanctions, is planning to license its handset designs to third parties as a way to gain access to critical components, Bloomberg is reporting, citing people with knowledge of the matter. From the report: The Shenzhen-based tech giant is considering licensing its designs to a unit of state-owned China Postal and Telecommunications Appliances Co, or PTAC, which will then seek to buy parts barred under the Trump-era blacklisting, said one of the people, asking not to be identified discussing internal matters. The unit, known as Xnova, is already selling Huawei-branded Nova phones on its e-commerce site and the partnership will see it offer self-branded devices based on the larger company's designs.
Chinese telecom equipment maker TD Tech Ltd. will also sell some phones featuring Huawei's designs under its own brand, another person said. The partnerships are subject to change as negotiations are still ongoing. The move may be Huawei's best chance at salvaging its smartphone business after U.S. sanctions cut off its access to key chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, Google's Android apps and Qualcomm's 5G wireless modems. Since Huawei first came under fire from the Trump administration, its shrinking consumer business has seen sales fall for four straight quarters.
Chinese telecom equipment maker TD Tech Ltd. will also sell some phones featuring Huawei's designs under its own brand, another person said. The partnerships are subject to change as negotiations are still ongoing. The move may be Huawei's best chance at salvaging its smartphone business after U.S. sanctions cut off its access to key chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, Google's Android apps and Qualcomm's 5G wireless modems. Since Huawei first came under fire from the Trump administration, its shrinking consumer business has seen sales fall for four straight quarters.
Software, Hardware, FCC and the FTC (Score:2)
Given that part of the sanctions comes the US not trusting what China is putting into the phones, which agency would be responsible for validating the devices are fit for use in the US.
Note, the US has been guilting of putting stuff into Cisco devices, curtesy of the CIA, in the past, but this isn't really the topic here.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
I've been thinking about this topic for a while now. My new conclusion is "We lost." Essentially America has given up. We admit that we aren't smart enough to assess the security of Huawei's technologies, so we've decided to try and ban them. It's sort of like trying to make everyone agree to forget about the possibility of making nuclear bombs.
Not a solution. If Huawei actually has the tools (AKA weapons) to violate our security and attack our national interests, and if we cannot defend ourselves against t
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
This is a horrible argument. Knowing what to do to prevent car accidents, such as mandating ABS, respecting the speed limits and DUI laws etc. doesn't mean that it's best to chuck seat belts.
Both of these just reduce a certain kind of risk at relatively low cost.
There's also the practicality that the US suffers from a huge trade imbalance with China, and also, China is quite the adversary with its threats to swallow Taiwan, 9 dash line, land grabs from India, adventurist econo-diplomacy and huge greenhouse
Re: (Score:2)
Appears to be diversionary change-the-subject BS. Go back and read what I wrote. If you don't understand it, then please clarify where your comprehension failed you.
Your ignorance is no defense. But that was precisely my point, wasn't it?
On the other hand, if you're trying to veil your racism, then please identify your "race" so I can respond appropriately. (Though I'm unlikely to bother.)
Re: Software, Hardware, FCC and the FTC (Score:3, Insightful)
China has actually been pretty hostile to its neighbors, particularly India, but also Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Australia.
Re: Software, Hardware, FCC and the FTC (Score:4, Interesting)
China has actually been pretty hostile to its neighbors, particularly India, but also Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Australia.
It appears I have to quote you against the troll censorship, even though I think you're stretching the meaning of "neighbors" and I think I mostly disagree with you.
China has always demanded or insisted on "respect" from their actual neighbors, preferably in the form of "tribute", but they've often returned "gifts" (and valuable premiums ;-) ) in exchange. Japan is more of an adversarial thing (and the Chinese still remember the Rape of Nanking), Australia is more of a business partner thing, and they don't regard Taiwan as a neighbor at all. (And initially Taiwan reciprocated that sentiment, but Chiang was some sort of a fool, if you ask me.) Plus you skipped Vietnam and Mongolia, who are the neighbors who probably have the longest track records of hostilities. (Plus the longest wall.)
Re: (Score:2)
I've been thinking about this topic for a while now. My new conclusion is "We lost." Essentially America has given up. We admit that we aren't smart enough to assess the security of Huawei's technologies, so we've decided to try and ban them. It's sort of like trying to make everyone agree to forget about the possibility of making nuclear bombs.
Not a solution. If Huawei actually has the tools (AKA weapons) to violate our security and attack our national interests, and if we cannot defend ourselves against those tools, then we're going to get attacked whenever they feel like it. And we still won't be able to figure out what's going on. You can't make problems go away by ignoring them. Complicated problems are especially persistent. Ignorance of the threats is no defense.
Having said that, I remain unconvinced that China's long-term ambitions are hostile, but I definitely understand their concerns about defense. There was a long period when China tried to ignore the rest of the world and it didn't end well. The real question to me is how China (the "central kingdom") will define "center of the world" going forward.
But I've already written my [daily?] speculation on the negative resolution of the Fermi Paradox, so I'll end here.
Really? That triggered the troll censors? Not smart enough to figure out that they are conceding and proving my point, eh?
Oh well. The "Quote Parent" button is convenient enough.
Re:Software, Hardware, FCC and the FTC (Score:4, Insightful)
Why? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
The US market doesn't need yet another smart phone maker. We are good.
That, children, is the sound that a free market enthusiast makes when he's no longer able to compete effectively on the free market.
Re: (Score:3)
Fair? (Score:3)
> is planning to license its handset designs to third parties as a way to gain access to critical components
Is the US going to mandate that those third parties are > 50% NOT Chinese owned, similar to how any company that operated in China had to be > 50% Chinese owned in the past.
Re: (Score:2)
How about symmetry and countering the doings of ideological adversaries? And not doing your best to fuel the growth of an openly hostile communist country with (to us) partly alien values, knowing they channel their economic fortune into preparing for war with the US or its allies? It doesn't mean that a similar system needs to be introduced with, say, Germany
The US is going to mandate nothing. (Score:2)
The US is going to mandate nothing.
Lost.
Question of storage (Score:2)
In the case of "just" smartphones, we are talking about which country the intrusive personal data we don't know is being collected about users is stored. You should be free to buy a phone that stores it on a server in China rather than one in the US or EU if you want. It's YOUR data that's being stored.
With the infrastructure components... That's different. People who didn't chose to have their data stored in China are affected if a backbone router logs all packets that pass through it to China. Even worse
Re: (Score:3)
Americans should buy Chinese phones and the Chinese should buy American phones.
If a government is going to spy on you at least make sure it isn't the one with direct influence on you.
Re: Question of storage (Score:2)
American make phones are a huge status symbol in China. I have a Huawei and I like it but all my colleagues ask me why I don't have an iPhone.
Not like it really matters, iPhones are fabricated here and I am sure have any software Backdoors the government sees fit. This being said, ideally I think app specific backdoors are better. The customer service is here too.
The idea that people in either country can subvert the government's tracking in any seemingly easy manner is a ruse.
Modern governments track their
Huawei isn't a real company (Score:2, Flamebait)
They are a foreign intelligence agency masquerading as a business, and they are under no pressure to EVER make money.
Their only job is to get a footprint that they can use as leverage and for intelligence.
https://twitter.com/bryanrbeal... [twitter.com]
Re: (Score:3)
So they're like the con artist who is a money launderer masquerading as a businessman, and is under no pressure to EVER make money. Got it.
Re: (Score:1)