Huawei plans to sell smartphone unit Honor to a consortium of buyers in an effort to ensure its survival amid crippling US sanctions, according to a statement published late on Monday. 

"The acquisition represents a market-driven investment made to save Honor's industry chain," Huawei said in a joint statement released with a group of more than 30 Chinese dealers and agents. 

"It is the best solution to protect the interests of Honor's consumers, channel-sellers, suppliers, partners, and employees."

The sale announcement comes as Huawei's consumer business scrambles to stay afloat following tougher sanctions levelled by the Trump administration on the Chinese company, including measures that take aim at the Chinese telecom giant's global chip supply.  Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but a Reuters report published earlier this month said the deal could fetch more than $15 billion. Once the sale is complete, Huawei will not hold any shares in the new Honor company, Huawei said in a statement. 

Read more: Not just Huawei: A guide to China's biggest and best smartphone makers

Honor is a Huawei sub-brand that sells low-cost smartphones designed for younger consumers within its native China as well as overseas including Europe and South East Asia. The seven-year-old company ships 70 million phones annually, according to the statement. Honor products often depend on Huawei's technology and some Honor phones run on Huawei's cutting-edge Kirin chipsets.

"Huawei's consumer business has been under tremendous pressure as of late," the company said in the statement. "This has been due to a persistent unavailability of technical elements needed for our mobile phone business."

"This move has been made by Honor's industry chain to ensure its own survival," Huawei said.

The purchase will be made by a new company called Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co, according to the joint statement. It was founded by the aforementioned consortium of buyers and a tech enterprise called Shenzhen Smart City Technology Development Group Co, which was formed by the government of the Chinese city of Shenzhen. 

Max Verstappen has won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, giving him his first ever Formula One championship title after a season-long battle with reigning champ and seven-time winner Lewis Hamilton. With both drivers heading into the last 2021 F1 race of the season on equal points after Hamilton won the maiden race in Saudi Arabia last weekend, the world championship was up for grabs Sunday at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. 

Racing for Red Bull, Dutch driver Verstappen started the race in pole position after topping the qualifying session Saturday. However, Hamilton led the entire race until the final lap.

Hamilton held an 11-second lead over Verstappen prior to a safety car due to a crash by Williams driver Nicholas Latifi with five laps to go. Verstappen pitted during the safety car, with a controversial decision by the FIA then allowing all lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to pass before the race restarted. The FIA's decision put Verstappen directly behind Hamilton on fresh tires when the race restarted on the final lap.

Mercedes has launched a protest against the decision, arguing it was a breach of regulations. The FIA dismissed the protest late Sunday, with Mercedes now appealing that decision.

Verstappen finished the season on 395.5 points, while Hamilton finished on 387.5. Both rivals started the race with 369.5 points. Coming in third for the championship was Hamilton's current Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas, who finished the season with 226 points. Rounding out the top five were Perez on 190 and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz on 164.5 points.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas won the 2021 constructors' championship, with both of its drivers in the top three.

Verstappen broke his rival's winning streak, but Hamilton and Michael Schumacher hold the record for most championship titles, at seven. Hamilton, who is also spearheading an initiative to push greater diversity and inclusion in motorsports, won the F1 championship in 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

The drivers get just three months off now, with the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship kicking off on March 20 in Sakir with the Bahrain Grand Prix. Hamilton will continue racing for Mercedes with new teammate George Russell, while Verstappen remains at Red Bull with current teammate Sergio Perez.

Season four of F1 Drive To Survive will be coming to Netflix in 2022 to recap this year's dramatic and controversial racing championship.

The race to the top of the mobile phone market has brought fantastic handsets from companies that continue to chase the leaders that are many people's top choices, like Samsung's Galaxy line and Apple's iPhones. From 5G connectivity to foldable screens, phone companies are innovating and evolving faster than ever, unveiling solutions to problems that we didn't even know existed. And all this competition benefits AT&T subscribers, giving you many excellent phones to choose from, at a number of different prices.

That means you need to go into the process of choosing a new phone with a solid strategy, one that ensure that you get a device with all of the apps, tools, data and media specifics that you want from your device. If that seems a little overwhelming, don't worry -- we've simplified it all for you. Read on to learn more about the best AT&T phone for you and your smartphone needs, as well as our tips for how to buy a new phone.

More phone recommendations

It's been just five years since Xiaomi was founded, and the rapidly growing company is celebrating the occasion in China with a fan festival to thank the company's loyal customers. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun took the opportunity to announce five new products, including the new Mi Smart Scale.

Adding to its growing ecosystem of phones and accessories, the Mi Smart Scale connects via Bluetooth with your smartphone and is another source of data for the company's Mi Fit app, which is available on both iOS and Android. It has a precision of 50g (1.8 oz) and can track weights from 5 to 150kg (11 to 330 lb). With a glass platform and LED display, it will retail for 99 yuan, which converts to around $15, £10 or AU$20.

Like the Yi Action Cam , the scale is developed by Huami, which also made the company's wearable fitness band, the Mi Band .

Other products include a buffed up Mi TV 2, which sports a 55-inch 4K display, smart features and comes with an eight-speaker sound bar. The price? Just 4,999 yuan ($805, £545 or AU$1,060).

Two phones -- a pink version of the company's flagship Mi Note , and a version of the Redmi 2 made for carrier China Mobile were also announced. Lastly, the company showed off the Mi Power Strip -- a portable charger with three power sockets and three USB ports.

These products are currently only for sale in China, but given that the company will be opening its online Mi Store for accessories in the US and Europe sometime soon, there's a good chance you may be able to get your hands on the Mi Smart Scale.

Lenovo's new Legion 2 gaming smartphone, expected to be unveiled Thursday, will feature four ultrasonic shoulder keys designed to turn the handset into a game console-like controller.

The keys, or triggers, located at the phone's bezel-less edges, are designed to replicate a game controller's L1, L2, R1 and R2 keys, detecting precise finger location and movements, including light and hard taps, slides and swipes.

"With these gestures, in-game maneuvers like aiming, shooting, opening skills, gear shifting and other controls are all seamlessly realized," Sentons, which partnered with Lenovo to create the experience, said in a statement. The San Jose, California, startup specializes in ultrasonics that work like sonar to register touch and pressure anywhere on a gadget's surface.

Sentons said the keys' positions match the natural position of users' hands when the smartphone is held horizontally.

The shoulder keys can also be used to augment operation of the handset's camera, adding a virtual shutter-release button that Sentons says operates just like a real camera, with a light press on the right side setting the focus, and a hard press taking the picture.