Zero Tech Emitted: ZTE halts assembly lines after US govt sanctions cripple mobile maker

Re: A cunning plan

The reason they were using US sourced components was mostly because they were trying to break into US markets, and didn't want to run afoul of US patents that would allow competitors to block imports. It isn't because they didn't have Chinese alternatives for SoCs to put in their phones and routers - there are plenty of companies using pretty much 100% Chinese components that produce phones and other products that are sold only in China.

Now that they have to shelve the idea of competing in the US, and probably EU, they will be free to use Chinese components that probably violate US/EU patents since they will only be sold in China or in countries that don't care about restrictions (i.e. Africa, Middle East, Indonesia, etc.)

At best this will cause China to push even harder to become technologically self-sufficient, at worst they will ban import of many US products - partially as retaliation, partially to help give their home grown products a leg up. Yay for short term thinking by Trump - but hardly surprising for a guy who can't even think far enough ahead to know how a sentence he begins will end.

Re: How are Intel doing in phones?

Intel lost the phone war (sic) years ago. It's got some sales for modems through business it bought years ago.

Re: Trying hard to care

Moto is now owned by filthy foreign commie Lenovo - so no true American would buy them either.

Re: Trying hard to care

...apart from the apparent cancellation of the Oreo update you would otherwise have seen?

Re: But didn't you say ...

I'd have thought MediaTek or Samsung (Exynos) could help them out, unless the ban also extends to other countries/corporations doing business with ZTE as well, like Cuba.

More to the point, can Google still license Play Store and Services to ZTE? If the ban doesn't cover that then the Trump administration doesn't really get what software does.

Re: But didn't you say ...

I think this a mix of supply chain realities, product lines and PR.

It will be difficult to source some components that come either from US manufacturers or from suppliers unwilling to piss off the Trump regime. ZTE doesn't just make phones, and in some markets there are not a lot of suppliers. This may mean dropping some lines to focus on others. ZTE is very close to the army so bankruptcy isn't likely. But there is no doubt political capital in China to be gained from portraying ZTE as the victim of fairly vicious sanctions. As with the withdrawal from the Iran deal, the message to the rest of the world that the US is sending is that it can't be trusted to keep its word.

While Trump will be able to spin this domestically as a demonstration of US power, it's almost certainly at least one nail in the coffin of US hegemony, particular in the Far East.

Re: But didn't you say ...

@Nick Kew; See Doug S's comment for the apparent answer. (It was posted after you asked this, but in response to an earlier comment, so appears further up).

Re: Who am I going to buy my landfill phones from now?

> Er, thanks america

Trump is turning people against America one person at a time and we really should be thanking him for that.

He has gone so far it is almost impossible not to turn against America. He has been so determined in achieving that it looks like it is his plan.