Huawei To Offload Server Division – Report

The pressure on Huawei Technologies being exerted by the United States blacklisting continues to ramp up.

Bloomberg has reported that Huawei is in ‘advanced talks’ to sell its key x86 server division, because the US blacklisting is making it difficult to secure processors from Intel.

It comes after the US in August said it had “not eased” policies put into place by the previous administration against Huawei.

US blacklisting

The confirmation came after criticism over the approval of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of car chip sales to the company.

The US it should be remembered had placed Huawei on the “entity list” national security blacklist in 2019, accusing it of acting against US interests and being a national security risk – charges Huawei has always denied.

The US blacklist requires American companies to request approval for technology sales to Huawei, under the assumption that most will be denied.

The approvals come as Huawei is shifting its business toward areas that are less susceptible to US trade restrictions, after selling off a large chunk of its once-dominant smartphone handset business, which had been crippled by the blacklist and other actions.

The selloff of Huawei’s Honor smartphone brand led to the company’s biggest-ever revenue drop in the first half of 2021.

Server sell-off?

Now this week Bloomberg is reporting that Huawei is in advanced talks to sell its x86 server business to a consortium that includes at least one government-backed buyer.

According to the Bloomberg report, several potential buyers from government and the private sector emerged in recent months.

Bloomberg reported that Henan Information Industry Investment Co Ltd, a state-owned firm that has been a partner of x86 and consumer electronics maker Huaqin Technology Co Ltd, along with an asset management company representing the Hubei provincial government, are involved in the talks.