Huawei’s ‘offer’ to sell 5G chips to Apple unlikely to happen in current political climate, say analysts

Chinese smartphone maker Huawei Technologies may be willing to sell 5G modem chips to its major rival Apple but ongoing tensions between the US government and the Shenzhen-based company would shoot down the possibility even if they were inclined to make a deal, analysts believe. 

Huawei is “open” to selling its 5G chips and other silicon to rival smartphone makers including Apple, its founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei told CNBC in an interview aired on Monday. Apple is unlikely to want Huawei's Kirin processor as it already has its own, but the 5G modem chip could be of interest as the US company previously used modems from Qualcomm and Intel for its iPhones, said the report.

However, the political climate would cloud any deal even if Apple wanted to cooperate. Huawei faces increasing scrutiny from the US and its allies over the security of its telecoms network equipment. The US contends that back doors could be built into Huawei gear that could facilitate Chinese intelligence efforts, a claim the company vehemently denies.

“It is a 100 per cent no from the US government even if Huawei and Apple have this plan, as chips could store large amounts of private information that could raise great concerns from the US authorities,” said James Yan, Beijing-based research director of Counterpoint.

“Ren’s remarks should only be considered a symbolic gesture which shows Huawei’s openness to any possible cooperative opportunities,” he added.