Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), the largest U.S. consumer electronics retailer, will cut ties with China's Huawei Technologies, a person familiar with the matter said, amid heightened scrutiny on Chinese tech firms in the United States.
Best Buy will stop selling Huawei's devices over the next few weeks, according to the person with knowledge of the matter, a setback for the Chinese telecommunications giant as it looks to expand in the U.S. market.
The move, after similar actions from U.S. carriers including AT&T (NYSE: T), comes as U.S. scrutiny of Chinese tech firms grows amid simmering tensions over U.S.-China trade and concerns of security. A Best Buy spokesman told Reuters the firm could not comment on specific contracts with vendors.
Huawei said in emailed comments on Thursday that it valued its relationship with Best Buy but could not discuss details of its partnership with the U.S. firm.
Earlier this year, AT&T was forced to scrap a plan to offer Huawei handsets after some members of Congress lobbied against the idea with federal regulators, sources told Reuters. Verizon Communication (NYSE: VZ) salso ended its plans to sell Huawei phones last year, according to media reports.
The tougher climate in the United States has forced Huawei to sell its flagship smartphone Mate 10 Pro - its challenger to the iPhone - in the United States only through open channels. U.S. tech and electronics website CNET.com first reported the termination of the agreement on Wednesday.
Best Buy shares began trading Thursday down 26 cents from Wednesday’s close to $68.18
