Huawei was banned from working with US firms earlier this year, making it fairly difficult for the Chinese company to access American-made parts. A new teardown analysis reported on by The Wall Street Journal shows that Huawei has found a way to work around the issue.
The teardown, conducted by UBS and Fomalhaut Techno Solutions, shows that both the Mate 30 and Y9 Prime models are now devoid of any parts hailing from the ‘land of the free’.
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Instead, several components in the Mate 30 and the Y9 Prime have been produced by Huawei’s own HiSilicon division. And components that can’t be built by the company are being sourced from elsewhere. For example, rather than relying on Texas-based Cirrus Logic for the Mate 30’s audio amplifier, the company has switched things up and gone to NXP in the Netherlands instead.
Don’t mistake this for an angry middle finger to America though. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, a Huawei spokesperson said the company has a ‘clear preference’ to continue working with US companies.
“We would like to continue using American components,” the spokesperson said. “It’s good for Huawei.”
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The US Government ban poses greater problems for software than it does hardware. Although a lot of Huawei devices already have licenses to use Android, Google can’t grant licenses to any new products that are created by the company.
The above issue probably explains why Huawei has a ‘clear preference’ to continue working with the US. Without ongoing access to the widely-loved Android and Windows operating systems, which are both owned by US-companies, it’s unclear how well future Huawei products would be received on the global market.
Trump’s administration laid down the ban after it felt there were security issues with Huawei, who have close links with the Chinese government. The company has repeatedly denied any spying activities.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
