(Yicai Global) Jan. 25 -- Huawei Technologies has no intention of selling its mobile phone business, which accounts for around half of the Chinese telecoms giant’s revenue, and will continue to be a leading global high-end smartphone brand, online new outlet The Paper reported today, citing the company’s response to online rumors.

Huawei is mulling selling the rest of its cellphone business to a state-backed entity, similar to the way it divested budget brand Honor last November, the rumors said. Negotiations are coming to an end, and will be announced soon, they added.

Huawei sold Honor to a new firm, Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology, which was set up by the Shenzhen city government and more than 30 dealers, for a reported CNY100 billion (USD15.4 billion) on Nov. 17. Huawei, which still has the Mate, P and Nova series, no longer has a stake in the brand.

In May 2019, the US government placed Huawei on its so-called Entity List over national security concerns, barring US companies from buying its products and from selling it their hardware and software. Last September, the US further tightened the noose to include components manufactured worldwide using US hardware and software, inflicting great damage on Huawei’s global supply chain.

Honor helped to make Huawei the world’s second-largest mobile phone supplier last year. It accounted for about a quarter of Huawei’s global shipments and one third of its domestic sales in the third quarter, according to market analytics firm Canalys. But with the US ratcheting up sanctions against it, Huawei had no choice but to let it go, according to founder Ren Zhengfei.

Since the split, Honor, which as an independent entity is not affected by the trade bans, has resumed ties with all its former suppliers, including Qualcomm, Micron Technology, Microsoft, Intel and Mediatek, Chief Executive Officer Zhao Ming said last week.

Huawei is expected to fall out of the world’s top six mobile phone makers this year, Taiwanese market intelligence firm TrendForce said earlier this month. The top six players of 2021 will be, in order, South Korea’s Samsung, the US’ Apple, China’s Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and Transsion and together they will commandeer 80 percent of the global smartphone market, it said.

Editor: Kim Taylor