SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) — SK hynix Inc. declared on Thursday that it has commenced an internal inquiry into how its memory chips were included in a new Huawei Technologies Co. smartphone.
According to Bloomberg News, the South Korean chipmaker’s DRAM — LPDDR5 — and NAND Flash memory are used in the Chinese tech company’s latest Mate 60 Pro device. SK hynix’s memory components were the only elements sourced from abroad.
“SK hynix no longer conducts business with Huawei since the implementation of the U.S. restrictions against the company and in relation to the issue, we began an investigation to identify more details,” the chipmaker said.
“Furthermore, SK hynix is strictly adhering to the U.S. government’s export restrictions,” it added.
In the fall of 2020, SK hynix stopped supplying chips to Huawei after Washington prohibited the provision of semiconductors created with U.S. equipment, software, and design to the Chinese firm without prior authorization, due to security concerns.
At that time, SK hynix was known to rely on Huawei for around 10 percent of its sales.
SK hynix stated that it reported to the Bureau of Industry and Security under the U.S. Commerce Department, which deals with issues concerning national security and high technology, before beginning the investigation.
A man is seen passing by the logo of SK hynix Inc. in Incheon, South Korea, in this undated file photo. (Yonhap)
jaeyeon.woo@yna.co.kr
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