Huawei chairman Ken Hu on US business

Huawei chairman Ken Hu said that the world’s largest telecom network equipment company is unlikely to become the target of US sanctions.
Ken Hu, Deputy Chairman and Rotating CEO of Huawei
“Ten years ago we put in place a system to control our exports, which has become efficient. Our policy is to closely implement all laws and regulations introduced by Europe, the United Nations and the United States,” Ken Hu said.

The smartphone company will keep buying U.S. chips this year. This assumes significance for chipset companies such as Qualcomm, Intel, among others.

Asked if Huawei could do without U.S. components, Hu said the company’s logistical chain was international. “We must be open and choose the best technologies, the best products. We will therefore keep buying American chips this year,” Ken Hu, one of the rotating chairmen of Huawei told Le Journal du Dimanche, a French newspaper.

Huawei, also the world’s third-largest smartphone maker, is battling in global markets due to perception issues because of its alleged association with the Chinese government, Reuters reported.

Several U.S. lawmakers last month claimed its research funding to American universities posed a significant threat to national security, the latest difficulty Huawei has faced operating in the United States.

Earlier, US president Donald Trump blocked a major deal by Singapore-based Broadcom to acquire US-based Qualcomm due to assumption that China or Huawei may be behind the move.

ZTE, another major telecommunications equipment maker from China, was hit last month by a $1.4 billion settlement deal after the U.S. government said the firm broke an agreement to discipline executives who conspired to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran and North Korea, two nations under the radar of the US.

Earlier this year, U.S. lawmakers asked Alphabet Inc’s Google to reconsider working with Huawei due to security threat. In addition, a deal with US telecom operator AT&T to sell its smartphones in the United States collapsed due to security concerns. Huawei is also facing similar perception issues in Australia and lost a major contract.

At the same time, Huawei is building its 5G contracts in several telecom markets. Recently, Altice and Huawei conducted 5G trials in Portugal targeting a 5G roll out in 2020.