The rise of Huawei, the controversial Chinese tech giant that rivals Apple and is seen as a US national security threat
June 2, 20240
Ren Zhengfei is the 79-year-old CEO of Huawei.
Reuters
Ren said Huawei’s registered capital was roughly 21,000 yuan, or just under $3,000 as of May 2024. He said he didn’t receive “a single penny” from the Chinese government and pooled funds from outside investors.
The CEO said he had no experience building a company.
Huawei started as a reseller of telephone switch equipment made by a Hong Kong manufacturer.
“We worked very hard and made our first money during those early years,” Ren said in Huawei’s docu-series.
When Huawei’s business boomed, the Hong Kong company stopped supplying Huawei with routers, forcing the startup to develop its own telecommunication products.
Huawei focused on research and development for its initial telecom products during the 90s.
Huawei’s first years weren’t easy.
Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The first few years in the overseas market were rough as they struggled to sell their equipment to customers.
“After I started Huawei, it was very difficult to ensure the company’s survival,” Ren said in a 2019 interview with CBS.
By 2000, its international sales reached US$100 million, and by 2005, international contract orders exceeded domestic sales for the first time.
During its foray beyond China, Huawei started to enter the consumer device market.
Despite some rough years, Huawei carried on through the 2000s.
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Between 2008 and 2009, contract sales increased by 46% — most of which came from overseas — and generated close to $23.3 billion in revenue, according to Reuters. The company was also seeking to expand in the US.
Following the success of its smartphones, Huawei expanded into wearable devices
Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei remains CEO.
AP Photo/Vincent Yu
As of February 2019, the company had more than 30 contracts for 5G and deployed more than 40,000 5G stations globally, the LA Times reported, demonstrating its global influence. Huawei execs claimed that the company was ahead of America’s most advanced providers in developing the technology.
Huawei employees reportedly say the pay is stellar despite the tough work environment.
The Huawei Mate 60 rivals the latest iPhone.
Wang Gang/Getty Images
The company introduced Ascend, its first line of smartphones, in 2010 in a move to enter the global smartphone market following the release of the iPhone.
Two years later, Huawei launched the Ascend P1 S, which was said to be one of the thinnest smartphones in the world at the time. It later released high-end phones like the Mate and P Lines, and lower-end devices with its offshoot brand Honor.
Still, Huawei’s ascent to the international arena has included controversies
Donald Trump signed an executive order that banned Huawei products from the US in 2019.
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The US and other countries have expressed concerns that Huawei’s equipment could be used for espionage by China.
In 2012, the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee released a report asking US companies to avoid using Huawei products because of cybersecurity concerns. In 2018, AT&T killed a deal with Huawei to sell its smartphones across America.
Between 2017 and 2018, as tensions between the country and the company rose, the Donald Trump administration restricted federal agencies like the Department of Defense from using the telecom giant’s equipment.
In 2019, the US cracked down even further on Huawei, with former president Trump signing an executive order laying the groundwork to block it from selling equipment in the country. The blacklisting has since been expanded, and diplomatic tensions between China and the US have also ramped up.
In 2018, Meng Wanzhou, the CEO’s daughter who is also Huawei’s CFO, was detained in Canada on fraud and sanctions violation charges
Huawei’s new Pura70 phone has three cameras, just like the iPhone Pro.
CFOTO/Future Publishing/Getty Images
As of early 2024, Apple lost its edge in China in smartphone sales, a major market, to local rivals like Huawei as iPhone sales declined.
Huawei’s $960 Mate 60 Pro debuted in 2023 and wowed consumers and analysts as a viable alternative on the heels of an iPhone ban for Chinese government officials.
As if the Mate 60 wasn’t enough, in 2024, Huawei introduced another series of smartphones called the Pura 70, starting at $760.
Huawei didn’t immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment before publication.
