Despite the threat of sanctions from the United States, Chinese company Huawei is having a stellar year.
The tech superstar reported $1.55 billion in profit in the first half of 2019 – more than the company made in all of 2018. That’s not the only good news: Huawei Technologies came in second behind Samsung for the number of best-selling smartphones in the world for the second quarter of 2019.
Their exemplary growth comes in the face of a decision announced in May by the Trump Administration in the U.S. that prohibited U.S. companies from doing business with Huawei without special permission. Although ultimately general use sanctions have been postponed, the insecurity has left many companies scrambling and questioning whether continuing a partnership is worthwhile if partnerships will have to end in December when sanctions are scheduled to go into effect.
Huawei itself does not seem to be suffering from the back and forth. Smartphone shipments jumped 24 percent at the beginning of the year, led by Chinese buyers. The company’s market share within its home country rose more than 10 percentage points in 2019’s second quarter alone, to 38 percent. Overall, revenues from Chinese sales rose more than eight percentage points between 2018 and 2019 to date.
Despite their insecure hold in the U.S. market, chances are good U.S. consumers haven’t seen the end of Huawei technology. Aside from its growing smartphone sales, Huawei is a key partner for U.S. tech giants, including Google, whom it has depended on for its Android operating systems. Despite all the back and forth, the company’s influence is expected to continue to grow.