Huawei Technologies Chairman Ken Hu on Tuesday said that it has not discussed with Apple on supplying of 5G chipsets to its smartphone. The company which had a net profit of $9 billion is among the largest telecom equipment manufacturer in the world. It also designs chipsets which are used in other electronic products through its in-house semiconductor branch called the HiSilicon. Earlier in the year, Huawei launched Balong 5000 which is a 5G modem which has a base station chipset making it the most powerful modem.
Earlier this week, Huawei CEO and founder Ren Zhengfei had said that it was ‘open’ to sell its 5G chipsets to other smartphone makers including the likes of Apple. Though Apple has its own chip, it had earlier used Qualcomm and Intel modems for its iPhones, the 5G chip from Huawei could be of interest to the leading smartphone maker. Earlier, the company had said that it had no intention of becoming a chipset vendor to Apple and compete against Qualcomm and Intel.
Huawei which has more than 40 commercial contracts to build infrastructure for 5G has denied there were talks with Apple on selling 5G chipsets. The chairman of the company Hu in a statement said. ‘We have not had discussions with Apple on this issue’. He said that the company is geared for the competition from Apple in this market. Meanwhile, Apple held discussions with Samsung, MediaTek, and Intel to supply 5G modem chips for its 2019 iPhones as per the testimony of Apple chief.
Security concerns bog Huawei
Though the company has developed a high-tech modem, the United States has security concerns about the equipment. The U.S. has accused the company of espionage by China. So even if Apple and Huawei agree to work with each other U.S. and its allies will scrutinize the telecom giant over security. The US has alleged that the gears developed by Huawei help Chinese collect intelligence data which the company denies. As per a leading source who knows about this matter
“It is 100% no from the U.S. government even if Huawei and Apple have this plan, as chips could store large amounts of private information that could raise great concerns from the US authorities.”
Adding to the security concerns is the fact that there is an ongoing trade war between China and the US which would make the deal a nearly impossible even if the two companies are willing to make a deal.
