NTT Docomo said Tuesday it will again accept orders for Huawei’s P30 Pro handsets after it delayed the launch of the phone following the United States export blacklisting of the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker in May, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.
Why it matters: Docomo is the third major Japanese carrier, including SoftBank and KDDI, to have resumed sales of Huawei phones.
- SoftBank said in May that it did not feel confident enough to sell the Huawei device to consumers since it was not able to grasp the situation surrounding the US restrictions on Huawei.
- The US trade blacklist bars exports of American components and technology to Huawei, which include the popular Android mobile operating system used on Huawei phones.
- The Docomo announcement came after the US Commerce Department gave Huawei another 90-day reprieve allowing suppliers to sell to the company on Monday.
No matter how long the reprieve, Huawei still has no alternatives to US tech
Details: Docomo said it will resume taking orders for Huawei P30 Pro smartphone starting Wednesday. The device is scheduled to go on sale in Japan in September.
- “We had been examining the impact of the U.S. trade restrictions on Huawei and have confirmed that our customers can safely use Huawei products at this stage,” said a Docomo spokesperson on Tuesday.
- SoftBank and KDDI started selling Huawei P30 lite smartphones on August 8 with both companies promising that the phones would have full access to Android services and apps provided by Google.