Defying US crackdown, Huawei ships a record 200 million smartphones in 2018

Huawei Technologies, the world’s largest supplier of telecommunications gear, has shipped more smartphones than ever before, announcing Sunday that its 2018 shipments exceeded 200 million devices, despite a Trump administration crackdown and increasing scrutiny from other national governments.

China’s largest privately held company and the world’s second biggest smartphone maker, Huawei said its phone shipments increased more than 30 per cent from last year. “In the global smartphone market, Huawei has gone from being dismissed as a statistical ‘other’ to ranking among the Top 3 players in the world,” Huawei said in a statement, according to CNET. Earlier this year, Huawei topped Apple in the number of smartphone units shipped, and ranks behind only one other company, Samsung.

Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The announcement of record-setting phone sales arrives amid increasing tensions between the company and the US government and its allies. Huawei’s chief financial officer, Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Canada on December 1 at the request of the US government for allegedly committing fraud to evade sanctions on Iran. Beijing has pushed for her release and suggested that her arrest was part of a US effort to gain an advantage in its ongoing trade battles with China.

China blasts Ottawa and allies for hypocrisy over Meng, Canadian detainees

Several US allies have followed the Trump administration in largely barring the use of Huawei devices. They cite a risk that the company’s technology could be used to inform Chinese intelligence officers aiming to spy on or disrupt foreign governments, military agencies and corporations.