Скачать или смотреть Reaction as Huawei sells Honor brand in face of US sanctions

(17 Nov 2020) LEAD IN:
Chinese tech giant Huawei is selling its budget-price Honor smartphone brand in an effort to rescue the struggling business from damaging U.S. sanctions imposed on its parent company.
The sale, announced on Tuesday (November 17 2020) is aimed at reviving Honor by separating it from Huawei's network equipment business, which Washington says is a security threat - an accusation Huawei denies.

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Huawei Technologies Ltd.'s announcement gave no financial details but said the company will have no ownership stake once the sale is completed. Huawei will retain its flagship Huawei smartphone brand.
The buyer is a state-owned company in Shenzhen, the southern city where Huawei is headquartered, and a group of Honor retailers.
Earlier news reports on rumors of a possible sale put the price as high as 100 billion yuan ($15 billion).
Mobile analyst Ben Wood says Honor was left in "an impossible situation".
"If it can't build phones for its own Huawei branded devices, it means that Honor was in an impossible situation and therefore for the future of that brand and for the companies around it that work with Honor, this was the only logical step that they could take," he says.
U.S. security complaints focus on Huawei's network gear and leading role in next-generation telecom technology.
American officials say Huawei might facilitate Chinese spying, which the company denies.
Sanctions imposed last year block Huawei's access to most U.S. processor chips and other technology.
Those were tightened in May when the White House barred manufacturers worldwide from using U.S. technology to produce chips for Huawei, including those designed by its own engineers.
The buyer is Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co. It was founded by Shenzhen Smart City Technology Development Group Co., which was formed by the city government to develop information technology infrastructure.
Tuesday's announcements gave no indication how Honor planned to regain access to U.S. chips and other technology including Google's popular music, maps and other services.
Other Chinese smartphone brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo operate without such restrictions.
"At this stage, there's a distinct lack of information around how this deal has been structured," says Wood.
"We know that it's a government-backed consortium of companies that have come together to take the Honor assets. That in itself may prove problematic as they try and get agreements to get supply of chips and software and other things."
Huawei, China's first global tech brand and the biggest maker of switching equipment used by phone and internet companies, is at the centre of U.S.-Chinese tension over technology, security and spying.
Economists and political analysts expect little change in U.S. policy towards China under President-elect Joe Biden due to widespread frustration with Beijing over trade and technology.
Analysts say Huawei appears to be preparing for hard times by focusing its resources on its high-end smartphones.
"The decision to divest Honor merely underlines the massive challenges that Huawei's devices business faces right now," says Wood.
Honor, founded in 2013, is one of the world's biggest-selling smartphone brands. Huawei says it ships 70 million handsets a year.
Nicole Scott, editor of tech news website Mobile Geeks, says Honor's success may rest on its access to Huawei mobile technology.
"If they're able to transport a lot of that industry-leading camera tech into the Honor line, then I think Honor does definitely stand a chance."

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