Huawei’s Mate 30 and 5G hardware no longer use American components

Why it matters: Because of the US government’s sanctions on Huawei, the company’s Mate 30 series doesn’t have access to Google’s apps and services, but that’s not all: the handsets contains no components that originate from America.

With the Chinese giant placed on an entity list last May, US companies are not allowed to do business with Huawei without a license from the government. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the effects of the ban were illustrated through a teardown by UBS and Fomalhaut Techno Solutions, a Japanese tech firm, which shows a total lack of any US hardware in the Mate 30.

As expected, Huawei has turned to suppliers outside of the US when sourcing components for the Mate 30 and Mate 30 Pro, which are only available in a few countries.

Instead of using audio amplifiers from Cirrus Logic, they now come from the Netherlands’ NXP. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips, meanwhile, come from Huawei’s own HiSilicon semiconductor division, rather than Broadcom. Components from other companies, including Japan’s Murata and Taiwan’s MediaTek, are also being used over those from the usual US firms.

UBS: Huawei’s internalization effort looks to have progressed faster than expected, as we now see some Huawei 4G models (Y9 Prime 2019 and Mate 30) which are not using any US components anymore

h/t @WigglesPalmer pic.twitter.com/WVAfCi54kU

— Sally Shin (@sallyshin) 2 December 2019

“Huawei has always sought to use component suppliers from right around the world in order to source the best possible technology for our consumers,” a Huawei spokesperson told Gizmodo Australia. “If we are unable to source components from certain countries then we know that we can find those components from suppliers in other markets. Putting our consumers first and delivering meaningful innovation has always been our top priority, regardless of the challenges we face.”

Additionally, Huawei told the Journal that all of its 5G hardware “is now America free.”

“We would like to continue using American components,” a spokesperson said. “It’s good for Huawei. That has been taken out of our hands.”

While the US recently said it was starting to process applications from businesses for licenses to sell to Huawei, what appears to be a conflicting report from Reuters suggests the ban could be broadened, prohibiting Huawei from buying components from overseas companies that are allied with the US.