UPDATE: Huawei reached out to us with the following statement regarding this news: "“Huawei’s products are sold in 170 countries worldwide and meet the highest standards of security, privacy and engineering in every country we operate globally including the US. We remain committed to openness and transparency in everything we do and want to be clear that no government has ever asked us to compromise the security or integrity of any of our networks or devices. Huawei is an employee-owned company and will continue to develop its global business through a significant commitment to innovation and R&D as well as to delivering technology that helps our customers succeed.”
ORIGINAL: Huawei and ZTE have both had it pretty rough in 2018 when it comes to the U.S. market, and now things are getting worse.
The Pentagon will stop sales of Huawei and ZTE phones on U.S. military bases around the world. The reason for this move is that the Pentagon is concerned that the phones could pose a security threat, with sources telling the Wall Street Journal that military officials are concerned that the Chinese government could use the phones to track the locations of U.S. soldiers.
"Huawei and ZTE devices may pose an unacceptable risk to the department’s personnel, information and mission,“ said Pentagon spokesman Army Maj. Dave Eastburn. "In light of this information, it was not prudent for the department’s exchanges to continue selling them."
Maj. Eastburn went on to say that the Pentagon can't tell soldiers which devices they can or can't use for their personal use, but urged soldiers to "be mindful of the security risks posed by the use" of the phones.
This is more bad news for Huawei and ZTE, following news that Huawei is reportedly under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and ZTE has been banned from buying components from U.S. suppliers. While the Pentagon's decision only affects soliders that buy their products from shops at or neear military installations, the fact that the Pentagon has made this decision could affect civilians' opinions about Huawei and ZTE devices.
