Amid the trade war with China, with the U.S. pressing against force technology transfer and intellectual property theft, China’s top smartphone maker is managing to make phones without American parts, The Wall Street Journal reported.
“When Huawei came out with this high-end phone — and this is its flagship — with no U.S. content, that made a pretty big statement,” Susquehanna International Group semiconductor analyst Christopher Rolland told the Journal.
The Trump administration had banned U.S. shipments to Huawei, which was relaxed but not before Huawei made moves to reduce its dependence on American parts.
Huawei maintains a “clear preference to continue to integrate and buy components from U.S. supply partners. If that proves impossible because of the decisions of the U.S. government, we will have no choice but to find alternative supply from non-U.S. sources,” according to a Huawei spokesman to the Journal.
“All of our 5G is now America-free,” Huawei cybersecurity official John Suffolk told the Journal. “We would like to continue using American components. It’s good for American industry. It’s good for Huawei. That has been taken out of our hands.”
