Huawei has been forced to change numerous components and algorithms in its devices to cope with restrictions from the United States, company founder Ren Zhengfei said in a statement on Thursday.
“We have had to modify thousands of electronic boards, replace parts, and algorithms to cope with … (the ban) from the US,” the top-level exec said in an address to his firm's employees.
But the Chinese tech giant could not retreat amid the challenges, he said, adding that the company would not need a 90,000-person research and development team if it had better access to "high-quality resources like Western companies".
The news comes after trade restrictions from the Trump administration blocked the company's access to key technologies and prompted Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co to shutter all orders for the Shenzhen-based firm amid fears from the trade ban, causing Huawei's chipmaking wing HiSilicon to end production of its iconic Kirin series chipsets.
The comments come as Huawei rotating chairman Guo Ping made similar comments to company employees amid plans to unveil its HarmonyOS operating system and changes to Huawei Mobile Services in an event in mid-September.
Beijing is also set to boost mainland semiconductor firms such as Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp and others in a bid to boost domestic technologies and distance from US technologies, reports revealed. The initiatives will be added to a draft of the Chinese Communist Party's 14th Five-Year Plan in October, according to Chinese media.
Several Chinese tech firms, including Huawei, TikTok owner ByteDance, Alibaba Group and WeChat owner Tencent, have been targeted in recent months by US president Donald Trump, sparking backlash and criticism from company officials.
