ZTE might now be able to breathe a sigh of relief. The company has struck a deal with Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek for the supply of processors. The latter had gained permission to trade with ZTE as part of new requirements from the Taiwanese government.
This deal is one of the few options left to ZTE, after the US issued a seven year ban on smartphone company. The ban prohibits ZTE from doing business with companies such as Qualcomm and Intel, which explains why ZTE was forced to look to non-US companies such as MediaTek for help.
The Chinese smartphone company received the ban when it was discovered that they had sold telecommunications equipment to Iran and North Korea – two countries that are currently on the US’ sanctions list. To make matters worse, the company also lied to the US government about the sales, and had provided “false statements to the country’s government.”
“We fully understand high-tech factories’ characteristic of fast-paced shipments of goods, we won’t create obstacles for the pace of their exports,” Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade said about the deal between ZTE and MediaTek.
In addition, the Chinese government has also decided to help ZTE out, going so far as to ask its rival economic superpower to amend the current ban on the firm. China also released a brief statement on the issue, citing that it was making “solemn representations” for ZTE to the US.
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