In a recent interview, Ren Zhengfei, the founder and CEO of Huawei Technologies, revealed that the company had spent more than 132 billion Yuan (roughly 18.7 billion US Dollars) on US parts for its smartphones and is not looking to find replacements yet.

 Ren Zhengfei, Huawei CEO and Founder
Ren Zhengfei, Huawei CEO and Founder

Huawei has been caught in the middle of the trade wars between China and the US. The company was placed on the “Entity List” last year and had even lost support from Google. Despite all of this, the Chinese tech giant has been steadfast about its sourcing, with the senior executive stating that the company will not look for replacements. According to Zhengfei, Huawei has spent 18 billion US Dollars in 2019, which is a large increase from just 11 billion US dollars before that.

Yesterday, we had covered similar statements that Ren had mentioned in the interview. The CEO emphasized greatly on maintaining a friendly relationship with its foreign supply chains, especially from the US, and believes that America “will always be our good friend.” Furthermore, Another senior official had also revealed that alternatives were available but they continue with US parts “to maintain good relationships with its American suppliers.”

Huawei P40 Pro Plus

Interestingly, Ren Zhengfei stated that “The proposal of a few US politicians does not fully represent the opinion of the US government. Many US companies have been approved by the US Department of Commerce to supply us with spare parts.” Thus, the Founder believes that there is no pressuring reason to shift sourcing from the region in favor of other countries or even it’s home country. The recently launched flagship Huawei P40 series serves as a great example as the internals did arrive with a few but the important US made parts from Qualcomm, Skyworks, Qorvo, and more.

 

(Via)