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LG Display's TV and phone screens struggle against cheaper Chinese rivals
Unable to compete with the glut of cheaper Chinese LCD panels, LG Display has replaced its chief executive and is looking to cut jobs. Early this week, the South Korean company held an emergency board meeting to accept the resignation of Han Sang-beom and appoint LG Chem President Jeong Ho-young as the new CEO, Reuters reports. According to Financial Times, the company has also revealed a voluntary redundancy program in an attempt to reduce its domestic workforce.
Huawei's Mate 30 may launch without the Play Store and Google apps
Huawei is pushing ahead with the launch of its new Mate 30 smartphones, even though they won't come with Google's official Android operating system, and by extension, popular apps such as Maps, Search and YouTube.
China's latest retaliatory tariffs could pose trouble for Tesla
The escalating trade war between the US and China could have particularly steep consequences for car brands. China's Finance Ministry has announced countering tariffs across a range of products, including plans to resume a suspended 25 percent extra tariff on US cars on December 15th -- with an extra 10 percent for certain cars. This could make tariffs as high as 50 percent for some cars, and particularly damage automakers that ship many US-made cars to China, including Tesla, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
US will reportedly give Huawei another temporary reprieve
Huawei hasn't had any luck reversing the US trade ban despite promises of removing some restrictions. It might be a long while before the company is forced to cut all its ties, however. Reuters sources have claimed the Commerce Department is expected to grant Huawei another 90-day "temporary general license" that will renew a reprieve set to expire on August 19th. The arrangement will reportedly let Huawei both maintain current telecom networks and supply software updates for phones. Your P30 Pro should still be up to date months after the ban took effect, and might even stay current throughout 2019.
Huawei and Google scrapped their smart speaker due to US ban
Before the Trump administration declared a 'national emergency' effectively banning Huawei, Google and Huawei were reportedly months away from launching a Huawei-branded smart speaker. The companies allegedly planned to reveal the speaker at a trade show in Berlin this September and to sell it online in the US. But progress came to a halt when the Trump administration blacklisted Huawei, sources told The Information.
Huawei lays off two thirds of its US research division
The rumors of Huawei laying off a large chunk of its US staff have come to pass. The company is cutting over 600 of the 850 jobs at its Futurewei Technologies research wing in the country in response to the "curtailment of business operations" by the US government's trade blacklisting. Simply put, the researchers can't do their jobs now that it's illegal for Futurewei to transfer much of its work to its parent company.
Congress tries to limit Trump's ability to ease Huawei restrictions
President Trump's desire to lift some restrictions on Huawei won't go unchallenged. A bipartisan group of senators has introduced a bill, the Defending America's 5G Future Act, that would effectively set the original blacklisting in stone. It would "codify" the executive order forbidding sales of telecom equipment to customers posing national security risks, bar the removal of Huawei from the Commerce Department Entity List without an act of Congress. It would also block waivers that any administration might offer to US companies doing business with Huawei.
Huawei preps 'extensive' US job cuts despite partial reprieve
Huawei appears to be prepared for a long trade battle despite the US government's promises of easing some restrictions. Wall Street Journal sources claim Huawei is prepping "extensive" layoffs at its Futurewei research offices in the US, with "hundreds" of people out of 850 expected to lose their jobs. Some of its China-born staff will reportedly have the option of staying with the company if they return to their homeland.
Research group says America's favorite TV size is now 65 inches
More and more Americans are scooping up 65-inch TVs, so much so that they're now apparently the most popular screen size in the country. Market research company TrendForce reckons tumbling prices have led to a shift in the most common screen size: 65-inch screens have been getting cheaper in recent weeks, while prices on 55-inch displays have remained much the same.
AMD denies improperly sharing CPU tech with China
AMD has been accused of feeding sensitive technology to China, and the company isn't having any of it. The chip designer has rejected Wall Street Journal claims that partnerships formed in early 2016 improperly shared x86 CPU tech with Sugon Information Industry, a supercomputer maker backed by the Chinese government. Sources talking to the WSJ alleged that AMD created a "complex structure" between two joint ventures to bypass American rules, with the Commerce and Defense Departments both raising concerns that the arrangement threatened national security. AMD, however, told a different story.
Trump to lift some restrictions on Huawei as part of China truce
Huawei is getting a partial reprieve from the US trade ban. President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have reached a truce that will remove some restrictions on Huawei selling technology to the US. It's not certain exactly what will change, but Trump suggested the US would allow hardware that didn't have a "great national emergency problem." That could help Huawei restore some of its partnerships for consumer tech like smartphones and PCs, but networking hardware is likely to remain off-limits.
FedEx sues US over mandate to monitor Huawei shipments
FedEx has already been accused of diverting Huawei's shipments, and it's not keen on dealing with more complaints. The courier has sued the US Commerce Department (including Secretary Wilbur Ross and Assistant Secretary Nazak Nikakhtar) to absolve itself of the need to monitor packages for potential export violations by Huawei and other companies. It argued that the requirement not only violated the Constitution's protections for due process, but was technically unfeasible given the scale of FedEx's operations.
China's supercomputers are the latest target in US trade war
The US and China have been locked in a race for the world's most powerful supercomputer. China was in the lead with its Sunway TaihuLight, which has a 93 petaflop capacity. But the US surpassed that last year, when it released the Summit, which can run at 200 petaflops -- or 200 quadrillion calculations per second. Now, the US is using export restrictions in an attempt to thwart China's supercomputing efforts.
China warns tech firms against cooperating with US trade ban
China is determined to fight the US ban on Huawei through any means possible, and that might include scaring the companies required to honor that ban. New York Times sources report that Chinese officials have warned that they could face retaliation if they cooperate with Trump administration trade restrictions. They could face "permanent consequences" if they honored the policy, the NYT said, and "punishment" if they pull manufacturing beyond the usual security-related diversification. It also encouraged lobbying to convince American politicians to change their minds.
China plans list of 'unreliable entities' in retaliation for Huawei ban
China isn't taking kindly to the Trump administration's de facto Huawei ban. The country has revealed that it's creating an "unreliable entities list" of foreign companies, organizations and people that it believes interfere with Chinese businesses. This includes firms that break the "spirit" of contracts, violate "market rules," block supplies to companies for "noncommercial reasons" and otherwise harm the "legitimate rights and interests" of those outfits.
Huawei accuses FedEx of diverting documents to the US
Huawei's rapidly escalating fight with the US has taken a rather unusual direction. The company has accused FedEx of diverting two of its packages meant for China, and trying to reroute two other packages sent from Vietnam to other Asian offices. Both of the diverted packages went to the US, Huawei told Reuters, and reportedly contained "no technology" -- just commercial documents. The tech giant went so far as to provide images of tracking records, although it didn't offer a reason as to why it thought the packages went the wrong way.
Huawei may debut its Android alternative as soon as this fall
Huawei's consumer business CEO Richard Yu reportedly said the company's own mobile OS will debut as early as this fall. Huawei hasn't confirmed plans to launch its OS, and Yu supposedly shared the information in a private WeChat group. But that timeline wouldn't be surprising given the recent US trade restrictions and Google's subsequent decision to suspend Huawei's Android support.
Huawei says it's a 'victim of bullying by the US'
To no one's surprise, Huawei isn't reacting calmly to losing key suppliers in the wake of the US' trade restrictions. Representative Abraham Liu said the company was the "victim of the bullying by the US administration," and that this was an attack on the "liberal, rules-based order." He added that the company wasn't taking the loss of Android support lying down. Huawei was "working closely" with Google to see how it could "handle the situation," Liu said, noting that Google had no motivations to block the company beyond complying with US law.
US may soften ban on Huawei to help existing users
The Trump administration might ease its Huawei trade ban... if ever so slightly. A Commerce Department spokeswoman told Reuters in a statement that it might soon grant Huawei a temporary license to "prevent the interruption" of service for existing networks and gear. Numerous internet providers and wireless carriers in rural and other low-population areas (including eastern Oregon and Wyoming) still have Huawei equipment, and the Commerce Department's trade ban would leave them hanging in the event of a system failure.
Huawei pleads not guilty to stealing US trade secrets
In a US federal court in Seattle, Chinese tech firm Huawei pleaded not guilty to several charges that allege the company engaged or attempted to engage in theft of trade secrets, the Associated Press reported. US District Judge Richardo S. Martinez, who presided over today's hearing, has set a trial date for March 2020 for the case. If Huawei is found guilty, it could face a fine of up to $5 million.