Huawei reassesses goal to be world’s bestselling smartphone vendor after US blacklist

Huawei Technologies is reassessing its target to become the world’s top-selling smartphone vendor by 2020, after a US trade ban raised serious questions about its access to services that are crucial for international sales, according to a senior executive.

Huawei is now closely observing and evaluating the situation after the US government barred American companies from supplying the Shenzhen-based telecommunications equipment giant, according to Zhao Ming, president of Honor, one of Huawei’s smartphone brands, at a media briefing in Shanghai on Friday night.

“As the new situation has emerged, it is too early to say whether we are able to achieve the goal,” Zhao said, responding to questions about Huawei’s plan to overtake Samsung Electronics and become the world’s largest smartphone vendor before the end of 2020.

The US government in mid-May placed Huawei and its affiliates on a trade blacklist that restricted the company from buying services and parts from US companies without approval.

After the move, US corporations including chip makers Intel, Qualcomm, Xilinx and Broadcom have reportedly told their employees not to supply Huawei until further notice. Google also suspended Huawei’s access to future Android operating system updates, affecting its ability to offer popular Google apps on its phones in the future.