Japan’s Sony and Kioxia seeking US approval to supply to Huawei

Tokyo: Japan’s Sony Corp and memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings Corp have applied for US approval to continue supplying Huawei Technologies Co Ltd , Nikkei reported on Sunday.

If confirmed, the move follows other tech companies such as Intel Corp that recently received licences from US authorities.

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With US-China ties at their worst in decades, Washington has been pushing governments around to world to squeeze out Huawei, arguing that the telecoms giant would transfer data to the Chinese government for espionage.

Huawei is one of the top customers for Sony’s image sensors for smartphones. Kioxia Holdings Corp is the world’s No. 2 maker of flash memory chips and a Huawei supplier.

Kioxia warned that US curbs on Huawei could trigger memory chip oversupply and lower prices. It recently shelved a plan for a multi-billion dollar listing as U.S-China tensions cloud the global chip market.

A Sony spokeswoman said the company was in compliance with all regulations, but could not comment on particular clients.

A Kioxia spokesman also declined to comment.