https://qz.com/1299684/a-new-us-zte-deal-will-keep-chinas-smartphone-giant-alive/ > Chinese telecoms company ZTE will likely continue to exist, thanks to a deal brokered between it and the US government today. > In April, the US Department of Commerce issued an order barring US companies from selling software or hardware to ZTE for seven years, after the company violated US sanctions by working with Iran and North Korea. As a result, the company, which was the world’s fourth-largest smartphone manufacturer in 2012, was forced to halt production on its products. Key US components—such as glass from Corning, processors from Qualcomm, and software from Google’s Android—were no longer available to the company, meaning it could not make many of its phones.