Its been a rollercoaster afternoon for Huawei news, even by the manic standards of this month.
Then, almost immediately after, the company issued a swift denial.
So, what happened?
Thats a big job title, but the nuggets of information he dropped were even bigger.
Heres the full quote, as reported by TechRadar:
Huawei knew this was coming and was preparing.
The OS was ready in January 2018 and this was our Plan B.
Now, we are rolling it out next month.
Huawei quickly issued a denial.
We are asking media not to publish it and give credence to fake news.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
We are asking media not to publish it and give credence to fake news."
Elshimy, however, said some things that didnt quite add up.
We have all the chipsets except the Intel chips for PCs and servers, hes quoted as saying.
Almost all phones, from Apple iPhones to Samsung Galaxy Note phablets, are based on ARMs architecture.
Theres a reason for that.
Its been around for about thirty years.
Its actively being developed by an army of highly-skilled computer scientists.
Its well-suited to power-sensitive devices, like phones and tablets.
Theres a reason why no company has tried to replace it.
Is that what Elshimy is saying here?
Or has he just gotten the wrong end of the stick.
That is why we can go at the speed we want, TechRadar quotes Elshimy as saying.
That brings me on to the next reason why this interview gives cause for concern.
Put simply, he works for an entirely different part of Huawei.
Huawei does this deliberately.
Its a point of national pride.
Huawei is unabashedly proud to be a Chinese technology company.
It follows, therefore, that a Chinese national should be its public face.
it operates under an almost impenetrable shroud of secrecy, with security a pressing concern.
Secrets are jealously guarded and are shared on a need-to-know basis with staffers.
This is something Ive witnessed personally.
Upon arriving at the facility, I had to surrender my camera.
The speculation, it is a-brewin
Huawei is under a lot of public scrutiny right now.
Failing to do so breeds speculation, and makes it harder for the company to enforce a party line.
Was he talking out of turn?
If so, why?
Hed been working for the company for almost three years,according to his Bloomberg profile.
If this is the case, Id be extremely surprised if he isnt fired by the morning.
Huawei takes a swift and judicious approach to those who embarrass the company on the international stage.
Weve reached out to Huawei for more information.
If we hear back from them, well update this post.
