SONY, KIOXIA SEEK US OK TO SUPPLY CHIPS TO HUAWEI

Sony Corp. and chip maker Kioxia Holdings Corp. are seeking U.S. approval to export semiconductors to Huawei Technologies Co. despite Washington's imposition of sanctions on the Chinese telecom giant, sources familiar with the situation told Kyodo news agency on Monday.

Sony and Kioxia are major supplies of Huawei, which has a high market share in the smartphone market. If they fail to win US approval to supply Huawei, it could hit earnings at the Japanese firms. Sony is known for image sensors, mostly for smartphones, while Kioxia, formally Toshiba Memory Holdings Co., is a major manufacturer of flash memory chips.

Last week, Kioxia postponed its Oct. 6 listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange after heightened US-China tensions clouded the business outlook.

US export restrictions were fully put in place on Sept. 15, blocking Huawei from obtaining chips developed or produced using US software or technology. Washington's move to tighten the screws on Huawei has the potential to spill over to other Japanese firms, which, along with Sony and Kioxia, sold about 1.1 trillion yen ($10 billion) worth of components to Huawei last year.