Despite U.S. crackdown, Huawei ships a record 200 million smartphones – The Washington Post
What happened: Huawei announced on Sunday that its 2018 smartphone shipments exceeded 200 million devices, despite increasing scrutiny from governments around the world. The sales mark an increase of more than 30% from last year. The company credited the record-breaking shipments to the high demand for its P20, Honor 10 and Mate 20 smartphones. Huawei Chairman Liang Hua said on Tuesday that the company would continue to push forward with 5G development despite more bans against the company.
Why it is important: Earlier this year, Huawei topped Apple as the world’s second-largest smartphone maker, just behind Samsung. With its expansion to Europe and continuous growth in China, Huawei’s head of consumer business is enthusiastic about the company potentially claiming the title of the world’s biggest smartphone maker by the end of next year. Despite numerous roadblocks from the Trump administration and various US allies, especially towards the deployment of its 5G infrastructure, Huawei has managed to achieve significant growth in what was one of its rockiest years.