“We have already been preparing for this,” the founder of Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies said, according to Russian Today quoting Nikkei. The remarks came after Washington severely hampered access for the firm to the US market over alleged security risks. Ren Zhengfei’s daughter, Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou, was arrested by Canadian authorities at the end of last year accusing her of trying to circumvent US anti-Iran sanctions.
He added that the tech firm will advance by developing its own chips to lessen the impact of the ban on its production and can stay afloat even if Qualcomm and other American producers refuse to sell chips to Huawei amid escalating tensions.
The statement comes shortly after Huawei’s chipset subsidiary, HiSilicon, said that it has a “backup plan” and is ready to switch to its independently-developed chips to mitigate the US’ measures.
While the ban makes it much more difficult to do business with American companies, Huawei does not expect that it will have a significant effect on its long-term performance.
“It is expected that Huawei’s growth may slow, but only slightly,” the CEO said. Ren added that the company’s annual revenue growth may undershoot 20 percent.
KI/PR