Huawei Technologies Co has agreed to license some of its smartphone technologies to an old rival as it struggles to make money after its lucrative handset business was hit by US trade sanctions that have cut off its access to advanced chips, reports the South China Morning Post.
The Shenzhen-based telecoms giant and Oppo, one of China’s top smartphone brands, said on Friday that they had agreed a “patent cross-licensing” deal covering technologies including 5G.
The deal comes as Huawei struggles to make money from its assets, including its patent pool, as revenues and profit shrink—mainly due to US pressure. The financial terms of the deal, which Huawei said is its largest cross-licensing agreement with a Chinese company, were not disclosed.