Recently it was reported that ZTE has run into some problems in the US where due to an export ban, they will no longer be able to source from US companies like Qualcomm for their smartphone components. Unfortunately it seems that those problems have extended to other countries as well, such as Taiwan.In a report from the Nikkei Asian Review, it seems that the Taiwanese government has ordered all local companies to see approval before they are allowed to ship components to ZTE. It is unclear if this was prompted by the US government or if Taiwan has their own reasons for making it harder for ZTE to obtain the components they need to make smartphones.
So what does this mean? At the moment the main chipset makers are Qualcomm and MediaTek, not taking into account companies like Apple or Samsung or Huawei who typically keep their chipsets for themselves. With this new ruling issued by the Taiwanese government, it means that MediaTek will not be able to ship chipsets to ZTE without approval. MediaTek’s CEO Rick Tsai has since confirmed that they have suspended their business with ZTE after receiving a notice from the government.
That being said, the Taiwanese government has stated that they are not barring any Taiwanese company from doing business with ZTE. According to David Hsu, deputy director-general and spokesman for the Bureau of Foreign Trade, “What we do [asking suppliers to apply for an export permit] was for the companies’ own good, to ensure they are doing legal business with the Chinese firms. We do not ban Taiwanese companies to do business with ZTE. … There is no reason for the government to reject their permit if their business activities are legal”