Huawei Offloads x86 Business As It Chases Self-Sufficiency (lightreading.com) 28
In yet another shift away from its traditional hardware business, Huawei has sold its x86 server unit to a state-owned Chinese firm. Light Reading reports: China company registration data confirms that the sale to Henan Information Industry Investment Co. Ltd., owned by the Henan provincial government, concluded on November 5. The size of the transaction has not been disclosed. Huawei's server business, like its once high-flying handset division, has been hit badly by US sanctions, which prevent it from obtaining the Intel chips that power 90% of the world's servers. The vendor flagged the possibility of a sale at a company event six weeks ago. Eric Xu, one of Huawei's three co-chairmen, acknowledged the server unit had "encountered difficulties" and said Huawei was in discussions with some potential investors.
Re: (Score:1)
I guess the state has now inherited the problem with the sanctions. I don't know how high the sales price was under these circumstances, but Huawei is rid of the problem.
Perhaps we will see more of those "exits" in coming years. If I was running an IT company and had to deal with US sanctions, I would certainly consider the options of moving to some architecture not controlled by the US.
Now those options are limited AFAIK, but for Huawei they seem to exist.
Re: (Score:3)
Nah, that was just innuendo. Huawei is a private company.
AMD is probably not too happy about this. As well as lost sales, AMD licences IP to Chinese companies who make x86 CPUs for the domestic market. They have some features removed, like the hardware RNG and some encryption acceleration stuff that presumably the Chinese don't trust and assume is NSA malware. They aren't as fast as the parts AMD makes but the government buys them.
Since the trade war started China seems to have been moving away from x86 to
Re: (Score:2)
Since the trade war started China seems to have been moving away from x86 to domestic designs. The goal seems to be to rid themselves to US technology, both hardware and software.
Except this isn't a move away from x86, it's a move towards the government being more in control of it in China. That's the opposite of a move away, it signals that they plan to use more x86 and want more control over it.
Re: (Score:2)
Depends on whether or not this would do anything to change the sanctions. It seems likely that sanctions would continue under a new owner that is more squarely a chinese government owner. It might just be a way for the government to bail out Huawei to let them continue on their non-x86 efforts and have a business-defensible answer to 'what happened to that x86 business?' The fact that the government might have pissed away money on a useless asset, well it's not like they were going to be trying to attract
Re: (Score:2)
The goal seems to be to rid themselves to US technology, both hardware and software.
That is a pretty smart goal. Basically everybody should really do the same.
Re: Sold to a "state-owned" Chinese firm? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I think the US has been quite successful at that since starting in that direction a couple of decades ago.
Well, yes. Although that is the one instance where that is not smart at all.
Re: (Score:2)
Huawei has sold its x86 server unit to a state-owned Chinese firm
Wait a minute. I thought Huawei itself was "state-owned?" So what difference does it make if the state still owns the x86 server unit under the Huawei name or some other name?
While I applaud your effort to throw verifiable facts at the wing-nuts your efforts are wasted, it just makes them dig deeper trenches into the slopes of Mount Bullshit.
Chasing self preservation more like (Score:2)
If the chinese government asks to buy something its not really asking. I very much doubt they had any choice in the matter - sell up or we break up your company and imprison the directors on some spurious charges.
Re: (Score:2)
what's cute is you think that the USA is any different [wikipedia.org]
Wait, chilling. It's not cute, it's chilling.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, that looks an entirely similar situation. Not.
Re: (Score:2)
sell up or we break up your company and imprison the directors on some spurious charges.
what's cute is you think that the USA is any different
Yes, that looks an entirely similar situation. Not.
You actually don't see how it's similar that the feds destroyed QWest because the CEO wouldn't play ball and install a tap on their internet backbone links for the NSA? And imprisoned the CEO on bullshit insider trading charges?
Seriously?
Fucking seriously?
You should be a slashdot editor. You've got the obliviousness down.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, I'm sure they fabricated the charges and no one noticed the deceit. You need to get a new tin foil hat.
LOL! What's really fun about the whole Huawei ... (Score:2, Interesting)
... thing is that now Huawei is basically banned from selling any proprietary hardware outside of china, they're getting really exited about Open RISC V and seriously eyeing development on that front. The result being, that we might just get a chinese megacorp heavily involved in building open source hardware out of all this and pushing the market on that front. Nice. Like it. :-)
Re: (Score:2)
they're getting really exited about Open RISC V
No, they are getting exited about x86 ;)
But typo aside, it's interesting and all, however a large contingent of vendors would have to make similar moves for that to pan out. RISC-V is cool and all, but the point is lost if you effectively have to lock yourself into a single vendor (Huawei) versus being able to have a half dozen selection of x86 vendors with two underlying processor vendors. Basically the industry has to move as one. This has been one stumbling block for ARM in the datacenter, that while v
Re: (Score:2)
Basically the industry has to move as one.
It doesn't, either. It can move piecemeal and still wind up at the same destination. What has to happen is that terms have to be favorable. And the terms for RISC-V are favorable.
This has been one stumbling block for ARM in the datacenter, that while various vendors have put their toe in the water, they generally did it one at a time and found that no one had the taste for lock-in at the system level.
The only concern with ARM is NVIDIA and RISC-V doesn't have that problem.
Re: (Score:2)
Prior to nVidia, ARM in the datacenter has hit this repeatedly. If vendors move *and* stay, then it can happen piecemeal, but what happened with ARM is that a company would tentatively offer a limited ARM server, get no bites because customers didn't want to get locked in just because of one server vendor bothering, then give up. Then another vendor offers an ARM server and no bites because now it's still only one supplier, and then they give up, rinse and repeat as it went through all the major server ven
Is this actually going to change anything... (Score:2)
Does this actually change anything, as the reasons for the sanctions would, if anything, be even stronger for a state owned company. Or is this way for the government to give Huawei a graceful path to bail out of the situation?
Discriminating... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Huawei was being too innovative so the US has been doing their best to use state power to destroy the company. The rest of those companies are just making cheap products cloning other products.
Re: (Score:2)
ZTE is on the list too, and a bunch of camera manufacturers.
https://www.acquisition.gov/fa... [acquisition.gov]
Re: Discriminating... (Score:3)
Some clarifications for y'all (Score:3)
+ Huawei does not care who takes the bussiness out of their hands, as long as they get a cash infusion to survive to fight another day by keeping the lighs on the meat and potatoes part of the bussiness (telco gear).
+ As long as the Henan Information Industry Investment Co. Ltd. (HHIIICL from now on) is NOT on the USoA entity list, it can get Intel chips, it does not matter if it is part of the Chinese Govt. or not.
+ Even if HHIIICL were forbiden to use more Intel chips (like, if they land on the entity list), they coud in the short term get creative, and use THATIC (essentialy ZEN1 type chips made by a joint venture between AMD and China) to rip and replace existing infrastructure in China, and refurbish the Intel Inside servers to expand/support existing customers abroad.
+ Why would an existing customer in china go from a 10gen Intel based server to a new brand new server with an old ZEN1 as the core you ask? Well, for one, the ZEN1 design, while having an older processor, could have better surrounding infrastructure (PCI-5, DDR-5, etc). Also, there is something called made in China 2025 which compels customers to opt for chinese made chips. Going "THATIC Inside" is a way to comply, without loosing the familiar X-86 intruction set.
+ In the mid-term, HHIIICL has a couple non-X-86 architectures to chose from. Be it something ARM based, or Loongson3*
+ In the much longer term, I expect HHIIICL (and most of china Server companies along with their market) to move en mase to RISC-V
+ You may ask, what does HHIIICL get in return from buying the bussiness? Well, provincial and municipla govt's all over china are very active in industry. This gives them a big portfolio of customers where they already have a foot in the door, and ongoing support contracts, is up to them to present a coherent future roadmap and plan, to soothe the customers into not leaving them. And perhaps cross sell them other things that the Henan govt. manufactures.
+ Also, another option is that the HHIIICL sale may be a stepping stone to move the X-86 server bussiness to a more sensible place, like Inspur or some other larger server company willing to gain market share and customer relations through acquisition, allowing Huawei to "save face".
JM2C
YMMV
* Loongson 3 is a MIPS based processor, with a 100+ extra micro instructions (fully chinese developed) to aid QEMU with X-86 emulation. Is currently in use in a coplue of computers at the top of the TOP500.