Let us Play: Smartphone brand Honor lets slip it has gained access to Google Mobile Services licences

Honor, the phone brand formerly owned by Huawei, appears to have secured Google Mobile Services (GMS) licences, paving the way for a meaningful return to the European market. The news came from Honor’s German arm. A since-deleted tweet confirmed the firm’s upcoming Honor 50 smartphone series would carry the proprietary Google …

[Gordon 10]

Hmmm

Presumably Pres. Biden will be involved in any decision whether Honor is a freed hostage or a dangerous gangster on the run from US regulatory justice. (In corporate terms of course).

If the former expect the GMS licenses to be revoked forthwith.

[DS999]

Re: Hmmm

In a normal administration the president isn't the one making calls like that, it is one or more departments under him that make such decisions. So I doubt he will be involved in the decision, unless an executive order is required to enforce it in which case he'd very likely go along with their recommendation.

I think Trump has colored some people's ideas of just how much micromanaging little things and ignoring big things a president should engage in.

On the face of it, it does seem pretty silly that a company that had sanctions against it (ignoring for the moment how appropriate one may think those sanctions are) can avoid them by spinning off a subsidiary that is purchased by a group of investors led by the Chinese government, and claiming it is somehow different than Huawei.

[Pascal Monett]

Re: micromanaging little things and ignoring big things

Oh, you mean totally ignoring a world-wide pandemic but making sure everyon knows you order at McDonalds ?

Trump didn't manage anything. He just barked randomely and expected the underlings to solve all the problems.

[martinusher]

Re: Hmmm

>On the face of it, it does seem pretty silly that a company that had sanctions against it (ignoring for the moment how appropriate one may think those sanctions are) can avoid them by spinning off a subsidiary that is purchased by a group of investors led by the Chinese government, and claiming it is somehow different than Huawei.

The sanctions are bureaucratic artifact and this work around is also a bureaucratic artifact. I'd guess that Honor is being ignored because the original sanctions were illogical and were doing harm to both business in the US and the US's image overseas. Having imposed them, though, the government can't just go "Oops, my bad!" and remove them so there has to be some kind of alternative.

I'd guess the sanctions imposed unilaterally on Iran over the nuclear deal are in the same category. We can't just un-impose them, that would look like losing, so we're stuck with finding a way to justify un-imposing them as some kind of win for the US. (Like Huawei, the situation is complicated by there being plenty of 'hawks' who are pushing for even more sanctions.....government is never clear cut.)