Huawel thrives even after US blacklisting

In the days after the US government said it would bar Huawei Technologies from buying vital American components, the Chinese company’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, pulled together an emergency meeting of his top lieutenants at its headquarters in Shenzhen.

In a large conference room, the billionaire asked for a report from the head of each business unit on how they would be affected by the Trump administration’s ban, which blocks US companies from supplying everything from semiconductors to software. Their assessments were dire.

“We thought we had lost the world,” said Will Zhang, who attended as president of corporate strategy.

It turns out they were far too pessimistic. Huawei recorded an 18% rise in sales to a new high of 850-billion yuan (US$122-billion) last year, although that was down from about 23% in the first half and missed its own internal targets. Company projections for 2020 are similar.

Huawei holds the enviable position of being the world’s largest supplier of communications equipment to telecoms operators and the largest smartphone maker globally after Samsung Electronics.

Huawei isn’t just surviving; it’s actually thriving in some areas. The question is for how long.

Last week, executives warned in a New Year’s memo that survival itself is a priority, urging employees to brace for a difficult 2020. Inventories stockpiled months in advance of the May blacklisting are drying up.

The company can no longer count on momentum alone to drive the business, rotating chairman Eric Xu warned.

How Huawei survived the US blacklisting could prove a case study in unintended consequences and a vast shift underway in global IT production.

Huawei is a big customer for all of its suppliers, and a few actually cut ties after the blacklisting.

Others lost out to rivals in Japan and South Korea. But American companies with extensive global operations, including Microsoft and chip maker Micron Technology, found legal ways around the ban, leaning on production outside the US so Huawei-destined products wouldn’t be hit.

Huawei itself put armies of engineers to work redesigning products to reduce its reliance on American parts. (Vanguard)

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Fisker debuts $37,500 electric SUV with a solar roof

Electric vehicle entrepreneur Henrik Fisker has unveiled his first purportedly mass-market EV, an SUV called the Fisker Ocean, ahead of the 2020 Consumer Electronics show.

Fisker started Fisker Inc. in 2016, three years after his first company, Fisker Automotive went bankrupt, thanks to the failure of his hybrid sports car known as Karma.

The Karma was ultimately revived by a Chinese company after Fisker Automotive’s bankruptcy auction; that company is now called Karma Automotive, and the car is called the Revero.

Known for designing icons like the Aston Martin DB9 and the BMW Z8, as well as a brief stint at Tesla, Fisker originally intended to start his new company with an all-electric sports car known as the EMotion, which he unveiled at CES in 2018.

But Fisker announced he was suspending the project in favor of the Ocean in March 2019.

Fisker Inc. has spent much of the time since then teasing more information about its electric SUV, like when it announced in November that it plans to lease the Ocean starting at $379 a month with no long-term contract, or when it said its EVs will be able to use Volkswagen’s Electrify America charging network.

But Fisker himself showed off the first Ocean prototype in the flesh on Sunday at an event in Los Angeles, California, and the company will have it on display at CES where it plans to share more information about the EV.

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France urges Iran to stick with nuclear accord

France urged Tehran Saturday to stick with a landmark nuclear accord at risk of falling apart, the day after Washington killed a top Iranian commander in Baghdad.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said he had discussed the issue with his Chinese and German colleagues, hoping to avoid escalation of an already intense stand-off between Iran and the United States.

“France fully shares with Germany the central objective of de-escalation and preservation of the Vienna (nuclear) accord,” Le Drian said in a statement.

With China, “we in particular noted our agreement… to urge Iran to avoid any new violation of the Vienna accord,” he added.

The 2015 agreement negotiated between Iran and the UN Security Council permanent members — Britain, France, China, Russia and the United States — plus Germany offered Tehran relief from stinging sanctions in return for curbs to prevent it acquiring nuclear weapons.

Also read: Britain warns citizens against traveling to iraq

US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal last year and reimposed even more sanctions on Iran, which in turn has progressively dropped key commitments in the accord, including limits on uranium stock and enrichment levels.

Tehran recently announced that it would take a further step away from the accord in early January and this was widely expected to be announced on Monday.

The European Union, which helped broker the 2015 deal, has been trying to keep the accord alive despite the US withdrawal, but analysts say that now looks increasingly unlikely after the US killed Major General Qasem Soleimani, a key Iranian figure. (The Guardian)

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US, Israeli flags burnt as thousands mourn Iranian general in Tehran

US and Israeli flags were set alight in Iran’s capital Saturday as thousands mourned the loss of top military commander Qasem Soleimani, a day after he was killed by American forces.

“We are with you,” they chanted as they waved their hands in unison during the outpouring of grief at a rally in Tehran’s Palestine Square, an AFP correspondent reported.

Soleimani was killed on Friday in a US air strike outside Baghdad international airport that shocked the Islamic republic and sparked fears of a new war in the Middle East. He was 62.

One of Iran’s most popular public figures, Soleimani was head of the Quds Force that oversaw the foreign operations of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed “severe revenge” and declared three days of mourning on Friday following the news of his death.

Also read: Tech: New anti-snoring device

At Saturday’s rally in Tehran, men held up placards that called for “revenge” and black-clad women clutched portraits of Soleimani and Khamenei.

One man wearing a mask climbed onto a stone monument holding burning US and Israeli flags as others chanted “Death to America”.

“Our response will definitely be beyond launching some missiles or destroying some American bases,” said Milad Najafi, one of the mourners. 

“In fact, I think our revenge will be the annihilation of Israel,” the student told AFP.

Another mourner, Ali Gholinam, paid tribute to Soleimani as “the greatest man we had”.

“They took him not only from Iran but from the ‘Resistance Front’,” he said, referring to Iran’s allies in parts of the region including the Palestinian territories.

“The ‘Resistance Front’ members are now mourning this great man,” he told AFP. (Punch)

“I don’t know what the response could be, but whatever it may be, it must be proportionate.”

Soleimani’s remains are due to be returned to Iran on Sunday ahead of ceremonies in Ahvaz, Tehran, Mashhad and Qom.

The slain general is expected to be laid to rest in his hometown of Kerman on Tuesday.

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Britain warns citizens against travelling to Iraq

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has warned British citizens against travel to Iraq or Iran amid heightened tension following the U.S. airstrike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force.

“Given heightened tensions in the region, the (foreign office) now advise people not to travel to Iraq, with the exception of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and to consider carefully whether it’s essential to travel to Iran,” Raab says.

Also read: Hillary Clinton appointed chancellor of British university

Raab earlier urged all sides to “de-escalate” tension following Soleimani’s death, saying “further conflict is in none of our interests.” (Punch)

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