And the crackdown has been interpreted as part of a broader push by the United States to stifle China's tech ambition. If ZTE goes out of business, it would mark the most dramatic development yet in the looming trade war between China and the United States. Jeff Fieldhack, the North America research director at Counterpoint Research, said these sanctions are a "death sentence" for ZTE's smartphone business. And ZTE's public filing states the ban "will also cause damages to all partners of ZTE including a large number of U.S. ZTE is the fourth largest smartphone brand in the United States behind Apple, Samsung and LGE, according to Fieldhack.

Source: CNN May 09, 2018 17:26 UTC