Huawei Confirms Production of 5G Base Stations Without US Parts

Chinese telecom giant Huawei told Reuters that is has been successfully producing 5G base stations without US made components. On Thursday, September 26, CEO Ren Zhengfei told a forum that the company will increase the production of 5G base stations as more countries begin to adopt the next generation networking technology. “We carried out the testing in August and September, and from October on we will start scale production,” Ren said, elaborating that the company will begin making 5,000 U.S. component-free 5G base stations per month.

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Huawei recently launched their flagship smartphone, the Mate 30, without access to Google services, prompting questions about the company’s market competitiveness going forward. Following the latest sign of technological decoupling between China and the United States, Huawei’s President of Corporate Strategy, Will Zhang, told Reuters that the performance of these domestically sourced base stations were “no worse” and the company “has had positive surprises”, without providing further details.

However, Ren Zhengfei did not rule out the use of US-made components in the future, citing long-term “emotional ties” with many suppliers. He also spoke about his willingness to sell Huawei’s 5G technology and expertise to other companies, explaining that he does not fear that sharing such technology would create rivals for Huawei.