ZTE Banned From Using Hardware & Software from US Companies for 7 Years

At the CES 2018, Huawei is set to unveil the Mate 10 Pro smartphone that will be sold by the AT&T. While the company went ahead with the launch, there is no announcement about the AT&T partnership. Though there is no official confirmation, the AT&T is said to have stepped back only the U.S government intervention. A few years back, both Huawei and ZTE came under scrutiny after the U.S government raised concerns over the national security.

Now, the US government has banned ZTE from using the hardware or software from the American companies. While it is not related to links between the ZTE and the Chinese government, it is actually because of shipping the US hardware to the US sanctioned countries. The US government has put sanction over Iran and North Korea. ZTE has been buying the hardware from the US companies and using in its products which are later shipped to Iran and North Korea.

After several false statements, the company now admitted not following the sanctions. Along with a huge penalty of $1.19 billion, ZTE can’t use the hardware and software from the US companies for the next seven years. The usage of Android will be the biggest concern for the company. While a few reports say, the company might actually sell Android-powered devices outside of the US as it comes with open source software. However, it can’t offer Google services like Google Play, Maps, and Gmail.

While ZTE can still sell its smartphones in the US, the company’s market share in the unlocked segment is very small. The majority of the ZTE smartphones in the US are sold by the carriers. With the ban, none of the carriers are allowed to sell the ZTE smartphones. We are yet to receive any official statement from ZTE over the latest sanctions by the US government. Stay tuned on Phone Radar for more details

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