Huawei signs licensing deal with its biggest Chinese rival

Chinese consumer electronics giant Huawei has signed a patent license agreement with its largest Chinese rival Oppo. Oppo, which operates under the umbrella of BBK Electronics, a consumer electronics company based in China, announced that it has entered into an agreement with Huawei covering 5G, WiFi, audio and video codecs. Huawei and Oppo announced that they have signed a cross-licensing agreement that will provide each other with their know-how in these areas. With the agreement, Oppo acquired the global rights to Huawei’s 5G patents. Huawei and Oppo did not disclose the financial terms of the license agreement. Huawei, which surpassed Samsung and Apple in shipments before the Trump-era sanctions, announced last year that it planned to monetize its patent portfolio more aggressively despite smartphone sales revenues declining after the sanctions. The company had said it would charge phone makers $2.50 per device to license its technologies. Oppo and Vivo sold more than 51 million smartphones last quarter.