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Opinion | Could Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei give up on 5G to keep the company alive?

  • Huawei’s short term strategy has been to stockpile chips from its key silicon supplier TSMC
  • The company’s carrier business, which includes 5G, is about one third of total company revenue

Reading Time:4 minutes
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Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei speaks during an interview at the company’s campus in Shenzhen in this file photo dated Aug. 20, 2019. Photo: AP
Huawei Technologies founder Ren Zhengfei told the Post earlier this year that he hopes to be forgotten after retiring from the company.
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“My biggest wish is to drink coffee in a cafe unnoticed,” said the 75 year old.

But standing between Ren and those anonymous visits to coffee shops is probably the biggest decision of his career.

In May, the Trump Administration announced a new direct product rule (DPR) that effectively blocks Huawei's access to advanced semiconductors – the brains inside all of its products. While Huawei was able to survive Washington’s first attempt to deny it access to US core tech in May last year, this time it has no wriggle room left.

Huawei’s short term strategy has been to take advantage of a two month grace period to stockpile chips from its key silicon supplier TSMC. After September, TSMC and other companies that use US chipmaking equipment (including China’s SMIC) will need a waiver from Washington to supply Huawei.

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Huawei's founder on US sanctions, 5G leadership and building trust in Europe

Huawei's founder on US sanctions, 5G leadership and building trust in Europe

A Jefferies report earlier this week said Huawei has enough inventory of 5G base station chips to last until the end of next year, but after that the situation was “highly uncertain”.

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