Huawei to sell Honor phone unit for $15 billion to Shenzhen government

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Huawei plans to sell budget-brand smartphone unit Honor in a 100 billion yuan ($15.2 billion) deal to a consortium led by handset distributor Digital China and the government of its home town of Shenzhen, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The plan comes as U.S. restrictions on supplying Huawei Technologies Co Ltd force the world’s second-biggest smartphone maker – after South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co Ltd – to focus on high-end handsets and corporate-oriented business, the people said.

It also indicates little expectation for any swift change in the U.S. perception of Huawei as a security risk following a new U.S. administration, one of the people said.