Huawei replaced these parts with components developed by itself and other Chinese companies over the last three years
Chinese vendor Huawei Technologies has replaced more than 13,000 components that had been affected by the restrictions imposed by the U.S government, Chinese press reported, citing the company’s founder Ren Zhengfei.
According to Ren, Huawei replaced these parts with components developed by itself and other Chinese companies over the last three years.
The executive also said more than 4,000 circuit boards have also been replaced due to the U.S. sanctions. The production of circuit boards has stabilized after Huawei developed replacement parts from domestic sources, he added.
Huawei has also developed its own management system software, MetaERP, entirely using its own operating system, database and compiler, according to the report.
Ren noted the company had spent around $23.8 billion on R&D last year.
Huawei’s representatives had previously said that that Huawei was not expecting the Biden administration to remove the company from the Entity List. In May 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce added Huawei to its Entity List, a decision that effectively banned the company from buying parts and components from U.S. companies without U.S. government approval. Under the order, Huawei needs a U.S. government license to buy components from U.S. suppliers.
The U.S. government included Huawei in the Department of Commerce’s Entity List due to security concerns, as Washington believes that the Chinese government uses Huawei’s equipment for spying purposes. Huawei has been continuously denying those allegations.
Earlier this month, a report by Reuters revealed that Germany is considering a ban on certain 5G components made by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE. German media further stated that this ban could include components already built into networks, which would require that operators remove and replace them, reportedly without compensation.
The ban has not yet been issued, but a spokesperson for the interior ministry confirmed to Reuters that as part of its broader review of its relationship with China, the German government is also reevaluating its telecom suppliers. “The main change is that these strict checks for potential security risks now also apply to the existing components in telecommunications networks,” said the spokesperson.
However, a letter by the country’s economy ministry stated that a ban on certain components by Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE could have a significant impact on Germany’s mobile network infrastructure if they have to be replaced on a larger scale.
In Europe, only Britain and Sweden have officially banned Huawei and ZTE from supplying 5G network equipment.
