Huawei says it will succeed despite US government restrictions

Global Business

Huawei’s founder and president Ren Zhengfei said the company will succeed despite U.S. government efforts to block access to U.S. technology. Ren thanked U.S. companies for their support but said Huawei would survive and thrive even if the Trump administration followed through on its order to block Huawei’s access to key components due to national security concerns. His words came as the U.S. Commerce Department suspended the ban for 90 days. For all the latest CGTN’s Nathan King reports.

 

A day after U.S. tech giant Google said it was going to comply with the U.S. government order and block its Android operating system to Huawei – the U.S. government announced a 90-day pause – and so did Google – in a statement the company said: Keeping phones up to date and secure is in everyone’s best interests and this temporary license allows us to continue to provide software updates and security patches to existing models for the next 90 days.”

But Huawei’s founder knows that this is just a delay, not a change in U.S. government policy. He said that Huawei is fully protected against Washington’s moves.

“Maybe some of our lower-end products on the periphery might easily be hurt. They will be knocked out of the market sooner or later and we didn’t do much preparation for this, and some of these things might be affected, but our most advanced products will not be affected,” said Huawei Founder Ren Zhengfei, “at least, our 5G technology won’t be affected. And not only will it not be affected, but after two or three years, no one will be able to catch up with it.”

Huawei is working on its own operating system that could be used in place of Google’s Android platform. It stockpiled the semiconductors it needs for its business and is thought to be looking for alternative supply chains.

The company’s founder stressed that U.S. companies and Huawei have formed a partnership over the years that has helped propel the company to the cutting edge of 5G technology and helped make it the number two smartphone maker in the world.

“I’m very grateful to American companies. Over the past 30 years, American companies have grown with our company, and they have made many selfless contributions. They taught us how to develop. As we all know, most or dozens of our consulting firms are American firms, typically the IBM and Accenture. In addition, a large number of parts and components manufacturers have supported us greatly, especially in this hour of crisis, which really reflects the conscience of American enterprises.” added Zhengfei.

The U.S. Commerce Department said the 90-day delay is to give time for U.S. suppliers a chance to orderly unwind their 11 billion dollar a year exports to Huawei. Rural broadband networks in the U.S. also rely on Huawei equipment and an instant ban threatened their connectivity.

Rejecting accusations that Huawei represents a security threat to its customers the company’s founder said they have broken no laws. Despite global pressure on Huawei Washington has not published any evidence that supports their allegations. Asked how long Huawei might have to face this challenge Ren said: “You may need to ask Trump that question not me.”