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Best Buy Stops Selling Huawei Smartphones (cnet.com)
Best Buy, the nation's largest electronics big box retailer, has ceased ordering new smartphones from Huawei and will stop selling its products over the next few weeks. Best Buy didn't provide any details as to why it has severed ties with Huawei, but it may have to do with security concerns involving the Chinese government. CNET reports: The move is a critical blow to Huawei, which is the world's third-largest smartphone vendor behind Apple and Samsung but has struggled to establish any presence in the U.S. Best Buy was one of Huawei's biggest retail partners, and one of the rare places where you could physically see its phones. Huawei phones aren't sold by any U.S. carriers, where a majority of Americans typically buy their phones. Security concerns have long dogged Huawei in the U.S. In 2012, the House Intelligence Committee released a report accusing Huawei and fellow Chinese vendor ZTE of making telecommunications equipment that posed national security threats, and banned U.S. companies from buying the gear. At the time, the committee stressed that the report didn't refer to its smartphones. But that's changed over the last several months. The directors of the FBI, CIA and NSA all expressed their concerns about the risks posed by Huawei and ZTE.
They should stop selling all phones because they all are made in China or have Chinese parts
Or perhaps instead of "expressing concerns" the FBI, CIA, and NSA should be asked to provide some actual evidence.
You do have to remember that things like logic rarely have a lot to do with such decisions.
Basically, yes, controlling the telecom equipment is indeed more dangerous than actual phones as each such thing impacts large number of users and a single smartphone much less.
But basically most smartphones are very un-secure devices where no one really knows what all software modules are in them.
Or maybe people should exhibit common sense. I don't trust any of the TLA agencies, but I trust the Chinese government a whole lot less. And Emperor Xi owns and controls Huawei, and everything else there.
-- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
These 3 agencies have a combined budget of over $60B. When expressing their opinion on a cellphone, they should be able to offer something more than just gut feelings.
Obviously the CIA-brand phone is much more better than that from the chicom Huawei !
MAGA !!
A foreign country has a whole lot less power over me than an agency in "my" own country!
In China, I'd buy an NSA phone (Aka Google/Apple/MS/etc,incliding Japanese/EU brands),
But in the US I sure as hell will buy a Chinese phone. Or a Russian one.
Always preferably not via mail order, but by traveling there.
To buy a US phone in the US, or Chinese phone in China requires the worst kind of anticonspiracy theorist / blackeyed syndrome.
Interestingly, I learned this strategy from the NSA itself (thanks Snowden!): When two enemies quarrel, rejoice!
(The German faity tale The Valiant Little Tailor teaches how to get two giants to fight, to win against them both.)
They can't, because doing so would endanger the software included in the next Shadow Brokers leak prior to it being leaked, remember?
I still use my trusty 6P and it's still doing everything I need it to do. It has Android 8.1, though I guess that is the last OS update. Still, way better than what Samsung gave me, which is why I no longer buy their phones.
What is amazing is the fact that Huawei controls the vast amount of the cellulars infrastructure around the world. For one type of certification, a phone needs to do field trial certifications on 5 different network configurations. It's getting harder and hard to find 5 configs that are not Huawei.
But somehow, the CIA is worried about your cellphone?
Like the average American is walking around with classified information on their phones? Like China somehow gives a single fuck what you are taking pictures of or talking to your mates about?
This is clearly the opening steps in the coming global trade war. The problem is, I don't think it's going to happen the way American policy makers think it will. American politicians seem to believe that we are living in the 1980's and the rest of the world will just, "Step in line" with the US. That's not going happen.
More and more European companies are aligning their businesses towards China. Not because they think Americans are crazy (which they do) but because of market penetration and saturation.
It used to be that if you invested in the US, you could at least count on stable policy. Now, who the fuck knows what you guys are going to do from one month to the next. China is way more stable.
The fact is, there are truck loads of money to be made in China. In the US, it is way harder to be profitable. Companies see this of course. So..who do they chose to piss off? The bully who lets you barely brake even or the new guy flush with cash?
but I trust the Chinese government a whole lot less.
Why? What is your opinion based on? You don't live in China. Do you think the Chinese government really cares what you are doing?
Consider, in China, the Government controls just about everything, but, they don't pretend otherwise. The people in China know they are watching and they also know that unless you are plotting against the Government or doing illegal stuff that they don't really give a shit.
In the US, they do the same exact stuff, but just lie about it and tell everyone they are not doing that, all the while they are condemning China for doing it.
The US government is just as shitty as China's, but at least in China, they don't try and pretend they are not fucking you.
It is really shocking how badly Americans always need an enemy to fight. Even when there is no enemy, one will be created or invented.
If there was no enemy, the FBI/CIA/NSA would have their budgets cut.
So they just invent a new enemy of they run out of enemies.
well why stop at china.
samsung has backdoors(effectively) for all samsung phones.
lenovo has the same for all lenovo phones.
motorola same.
vivo same.
apple same.
even nokia same with the new phones.
what I don't get, is why would they buy phones from another line at foxconn and not the other. this best buy thing must be just them lining up a deal with some another brand.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Because when China hacks you there will be real damage. The worst thing Samsung will do is turn your porn into K-Pop videos.
BBK Electronics
Markets smartphones under the Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus brands.
Unlike Oppo and Vivo, OnePlus is sold in most markets and was found to have preloaded spyware on numerous occasions.
When was there ever no enemy ? Ever ?
What's that now? The world is a good place and unicorns fart rainbows ?
>The worst thing Samsung will do is turn your porn into K-Pop videos.
But think of the mental health issues, that would surely overwhelm the entire medical system of the nation.
The people in China know they are watching and they also know that unless you are plotting against the Government or doing illegal stuff that they don't really give a shit.
For values of "plotting against the Government" that amount to "establishing any kind of movement or organization that is threatening their undisputed power or rallies protests or tries to promote change", sure. You don't need to dress up as Guy Fawkes and try blowing up parliament to be "plotting", you won't be seeing any hippies protesting on the White House lawn in China. You won't be seeing the Falun Gong or protest signs saying "Free Tibet" or "Remember Tiananmen Square", if you're critical of the government in any way you're silenced. The US may be just as bad as China when it comes to spying, but they're cracking down much harder on dissent.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
but I trust the Chinese government a whole lot less
With what? Trust is not a blanket statement. You compare it to the TLAs and in that regard I trust the Chinese government who openly admit to pretty much everything they do more than the TLAs who pretend not to do it at best, and at worst actively drop cases when it looks like a legal process may force discovery on what they are doing.
The US government is just as shitty as China's,.
Um, no, it's actually, very objectively not.
For just one blindingly obvious example, you can trash Trump 24/7 and not go to jail. Try that in China.
The Chinese branded phones I'd consider buying on price are Motorola or Xiaomi. Both have models featuring more or less standard off the shelf Snapdragon parts, as found in mainstream brands such as Pixel, LG or Samsung.
Don't use the Chinese ROM but flash your own LineageOS image and look maybe there's something lurking in the bootloader but more than likely they're just another OEM doing minimal customization of whatever Google and Qualcomm throw over the wall. (Yes, I *am* completely naive about cyberhacking... )
My government is part of the 5-eyes but if we were all really angry about this rather than complacent we'd put on our tinfoil hats and donate money to RMS-endorsed initiatives such as the Replicant project or purchase the Purism phone.
For just one blindingly obvious example, you can trash Trump 24/7 and not go to jail. Try that in China.
I've been to China several times and I'm pretty sure you could trash Trump 24x7 over there and not go to jail.
Depends what that consumer junk is collecting around US mil ports, forts, camps, stations.
The possibility smart nations tracking US experts and contractors globally using their consumer products.
What the NSA and GCHQ had to work for decades and needed billions to put in place, other nations just sell to US officers and contractors as part of their wage.
Voice print, GPS, home network, wondering around on a base, junk crypto. Some other nation is getting a NSA collecting network for free.
The only way the NSA can be sure is to ban brands from the USA.
The NSA is going full North Korea on banning competitively priced consumer products.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
Having actually BEEN to China, I have to concur. In the US, you can use nearly any search engine, nearly any email provider, and you have access to essentially the entire public-facing internet. In China, not so much.
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
Oh wait, that would be "almost all of them."
Does anyone think that the company ownership matters if the Chinese government wants to compromise the software going into cell phones manufactured in China?
For the most part if you're looking at smartphones they're manufactured in one of three countries (four depending on how you feel about Taiwan). Many are in mainland China (Lenovo/Motorola, Huawei, TCL as Alcatel, ZTE), including ones that are outsourced to Foxconn (Apple, Nokia/HMD, probably others) or other fulfillment companies. Sony is probably in Japan. Samsung and LG most likely in South Korea. HTC and Asus are probably manufactured in Taiwan.
Notably absent in the manufacturing locations? Anyplace in the "West."
fencepost
just a little off
The last time I was in a Best Buy was to buy my current Huawei Honor 8, 2 years ago. They won my business over Amazon (I have Prime) and Ebay by the fact that the color I wanted was in stock locally. It still took the sales associate over 1 hour to find time for me and to search there stock 3 times to finally find my phone. Before that I hadn't been in a Best Buy in over 5 years (looking for a computer component they apparently no longer sold at that time).
And here I thought the US was a capitalist country. There are dead communists laughing at us from the grave.
If all these clowns say I should think twice before buying one, I want to get one more than ever. Probably HuaWei did something in the firmware to make it harder to put US intelligence implants on it.
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
Yeah you would like that, wouldn’t you xi. Then you would know how to fix it. Fuck right the hell off. China has negative face.
I actually knew that was coming, the second I hit submit, lol
it is almost like they saw the tarrifs coming.
The Chinese have proven they can make a smartphone with large 1080p screen, good build quality and camera, adequate performance and then sell it for 200-250USD (Honor 5x,6x,7x, Moto G5 Plus, etc). I got an Honor 6X at Best Buy and I don't know why one needs an 800 phone when the 6X basically runs the same apps and performs with good fluidity under most usage scenarios (the only issue that does with performance is that camera UI can be laggy or stutter).
Too bad Best Buy will be dropping this brand. I can assume they will also drop the Chinese Lenovo and ZTE phones too, and then what's going to happen to the competition?
Assange is just a russian asset now, as you can see from his behaviour around the hacked emails in 2016.
Wikileaks could have been a positive force in the world, but that smarmy cunt pissed all over it.
I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.