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The Pentagon is moving to halt the sale of phones made by Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp in retail outlets on U.S. military bases around the world, citing potential security threats they say the devices could pose.
The move intensifies a squeeze the Trump administration has put on the two Chinese makers of telecommunications gear and mobile devices. Washington officials have said Beijing could order Chinese manufacturers to hack into products they make to spy or disable communications. Huawei and ZTE have said that would never happen.
Huawei is the world’s third-largest smartphone maker, behind Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., but it sells very few devices stateside. ZTE, however, is the fourth-largest seller of phones in the U.S., with a 9.5% share of units shipped, according to research firm IDC.
“Huawei and ZTE devices may pose an unacceptable risk to the department’s personnel, information and mission,“ said Army Maj. Dave Eastburn, a Pentagon spokesman, in a statement. “In light of this information, it was not prudent for the department’s exchanges to continue selling them.” He was referring to the retail outlets at or near military installations in the U.S. and overseas that cater to American soldiers and sailors.