Verizon's plan to sell Huawei phone suffocated by political pressure
Verizon hoped to sell Chinese phone maker Huawei's Mate 10 Pro phone, but a new report says the deal is kaput because of political pressure.
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Chinese phone maker Huawei has had difficulty breaking though in the US with it's phone like the Mate 10 Pro.
Huawei's ambitions to sell its phones in the US appear to remain just out of reach.
Verizon is abandoning a plan to sell phones made by the popular Chinese device maker because of US government worries about security risk, according to a Bloomberg report Tuesday that cited unnamed people familiar with the matter.
Huawei has been pushing to sell its Mate 10 Pro phone as one of the first to handle the super-fast 5G networks that US carriers are building. But some lawmakers and US agencies fear 5G phones made by companies close to the Chinese government could expose the US to security threats, according to the report.
Huawei said it doesn't comment on rumors, speculation or future roadmaps. Verizon didn't respond to a request to comment.
AT&T pulled out of a deal to sell the Huawei Mate 10 Pro earlier this month, also reportedly a victim of congressional pressure.
Huawei, the third-largest phone maker globally in terms of units shipped, has long yearned to break into the US market, turning to lobbyists and public-relations teams to improve awareness and goodwill for the company and its devices. But it has been plagued by difficult US relations partly because it also develops network equipment to route sensitive data around the internet. It has repeatedly dismissed the idea that it is in cozy with the Chinese military and government.
First published Jan. 30, 8:03 a.m. PT
Update, 10:13 a.m.: Adds Huawei comment.