AT&T Drops Huawei's New Smartphone Amid Security Worries
Source: New York Times
AT&T Drops Huaweis New Smartphone Amid Security Worries
By PAUL MOZUR JAN. 9, 2018
SHANGHAI With an advanced screen, a special artificial-intelligence microchip and an eye-popping price, the newest smartphone from Huawei Technologies was meant to show Americans what China can do with technology.
Instead, Huaweis push to sell the phone in the United States has suddenly lost a powerful backer and the push has attracted some unwanted scrutiny from Washington.
AT&T walked away from a deal to sell the Huawei smartphone, the Mate 10, to customers in the United States just before the partnership was set to be unveiled, two people familiar with the plans said on Tuesday, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the discussions were not public. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that AT&T had changed plans.
The reasons that led to AT&Ts shift were not entirely clear. But last month, a group of lawmakers wrote a letter to the Federal Communications Commission expressing misgivings about a potential deal between Huawei and an unnamed American telecommunications company to sell its consumer products in the United States. It cited longstanding concerns among some lawmakers about what they said were Huaweis ties to the Chinese government.
The letter, which was reviewed by The New York Times, said Congress had long been concerned about Chinese espionage in general, and Huaweis role in that espionage in particular.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/business/att-huawei-mate-smartphone.html