Japan's Sony and Kioxia seeking US approval to supply to Huawei: Nikkei

[TOKYO] Japan's Sony and memory chipmaker Kioxia Holdings have applied for US approval to continue supplying Huawei Technologies, Nikkei reported on Sunday.

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

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 is the world's No 2 maker of flash memory chips and a Huawei supplier.

Nikkei said without US licences, Sony and Kioxia would face risk to their earnings.

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 US-China tensions cloud the global chip market.

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

A Kioxia spokesperson also declined to comment.

REUTERS