A Huawei executive says thousands of parts banned by the U.S. have been replaced in its devices
(Reuters) – The founder of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd said the company has replaced more than 13,000 parts in its products targeted by U.S. trade sanctions, according to a speech published by a Chinese university on Friday.
According to a transcript posted by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei said that in the past three years, Huawei has replaced 13,000 components with domestic Chinese substitutes and redesigned 4,000 circuit boards for its products. He said circuit board production had “stabilized.”
The remarks, which Reuters could not independently confirm, provided a window into Huawei’s efforts to recover from U.S. trade restrictions. Since 2019, Huawei, a major supplier of equipment used in 5G telecommunications networks, has been subject to successive US export inspections.
Those regulations cut off both Huawei’s supply of chips from U.S. companies and its access to U.S. technology tools to design its own chips and have them manufactured by partners. Last year, the Biden administration also banned the sale of new Huawei devices in the United States.
Ren made his remarks in a discussion with Chinese technology experts on February 24, the university said. The university published the protocol on its website on Friday. A US Huawei representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
Ren said Huawei will invest $23.8 billion in R&D in 2022, and “as our profitability improves, we will continue to increase R&D investment.”
The reports come after analysts said Huawei unveiled 5G telecommunications equipment at an industry conference in Barcelona where the origins of all the chips on its circuit boards were obscured.
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