U.S. retailer Best Buy ends relationship with China's Huawei

By Nandita Bose

(Reuters) - Best Buy Co Inc, the largest U.S. consumer electronics retailer, will stop buying smartphones from Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

The company will stop selling Huawei's devices over the next few weeks, according to the source.

"We don't comment on specific contracts with vendors, and we make decisions to change what we sell for a variety of reasons," a Best Buy spokesman told Reuters.

Last year, U.S. carrier AT&T Inc's planned deal with Huawei to sell its smartphones in the United States collapsed at the 11th hour due to security concerns after lawmakers pressured the company to cut ties with Huawei.

Huawei then decided to sell its flagship smartphone Mate 10 Pro - its challenger to the iPhone - in the United States only through open channels.

Verizon Communications Inc also ended its plans to sell Huawei phones last year, according to media reports.

Huawei could not be immediately reached for comment.

CNET first reported the termination of the agreement earlier on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose; additional reporting by Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)