‘BEST BUY CUTS TIES WITH HUAWEI’
Move follows growing US scrutiny on Chinese technology firms
BEST Buy Co Inc, the largest United States consumer electronics retailer, will cut ties with China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, said a person familiar with the matter, amid heightened scrutiny on Chinese technology firms in the US.
Best Buy would stop selling Huawei’s devices over the next few weeks, according to the person, a setback for the Chinese telecommunications giant as it looks to expand in the US market.
The move, after similar actions from the US carriers including AT&T Inc, comes as US scrutiny of Chinese technology firms grows amid simmering tensions over US-China trade and concerns of security.
A Best Buy spokesman said the firm could not comment on specific contracts with vendors.
“We make decisions to change what we sell for a variety of reasons,” he said.
Huawei said it valued its relationship with Best Buy but could not discuss details of its partnership with the US firm.
“Huawei currently sells its products through a range of leading consumer electronics retailers in the US,” said the firm, adding its products met the “highest security, privacy and engineering standards in the industry”.
Earlier this year, AT&T was forced to scrap a plan to offer Huawei handsets after some members of Congress lobbied against the idea with federal regulators, said sources.
Verizon Communications Inc also ended its plans to sell Huawei phones last year, according to media reports.
Last month, two Republican Senators introduced legislation that would block the US government from buying or leasing telecommunications equipment from Huawei or Chinese peer ZTE Corp, citing concern the firms would use their access to spy on US officials.
The tougher climate in the US has forced Huawei to sell its flagship smartphone Mate 10 Pro — its challenger to the iPhone — in the US only through open channels.
US technology and electronics website CNET.com first reported the termination of the agreement on Wednesday.