‘Huawei products should not be linked to politics’

SHENZHEN: Huawei is a commercial company and the use of its products is a choice for consumers based on their likes and should not be linked to politics, says Ren Zhengfei, founder and president of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.

Ren made the remarks yesterday after the Bureau of Industry and Security of the US Department of Commerce put Huawei and its affiliates on an “Entity List”, which would restrict the sale or transfer of US technologies to the company. The ban has triggered opposition from markets worldwide.

Huawei maintains mass production capacities for specific key components, including chips, and the US ban will not result in negative business growth, Ren told reporters.

The telecommunications giant projected slower but positive growth this year.

Huawei posted a 39% year-onyear revenue growth in the first quarter of the year.

The growth has slowed slightly in the second quarter but this would not hurt the company, Ren said.

But he said it would not reject the US supply chain, citing Huawei’s announced purchase of 50 million chips from Qualcomm last year.

“As long as the US government allows US companies to export the components, Huawei will continue to buy while sticking to its own research and development,” he said.

Ren said he appreciated the support of a large number of US components suppliers over the years, and that they were also lobbying for the easing of US government-imposed restrictions.

Huawei was also in talks with companies like Google for potential remedy solutions, he said.