Huawei defies the odds to lead global telecoms market after 180 days on US blacklist

When the US government added Huawei Technologies to its trade blacklist on May 16, the Trump administration expected to hobble the Chinese telecommunications gear maker’s business by restricting its access to American hi-tech components.

Fast-forward to the present and Huawei has not only recalibrated its operations under the stringent conditions of Washington’s Entity List, but the company has also continued to push its global agenda for 5G – the next-generation mobile technology that will help power advances such as the industrial internet, autonomous driving, and smart cities.

Photo credit: Huawei

Shenzhen-based Huawei will mark 180 days under the US trade blacklist on Sunday, a dubious milestone that has been tempered by efforts to stabilize its operations.

The privately held company last month reported total revenue of 610.8 billion yuan (US$86.8 billion) for the nine months ended September 30 and more than 60 commercial 5G network supply contracts to lead the industry, which puts it in a position to surpass US$100 billion in sales this year.

This performance has defied early predictions that Huawei would stumble under the US trade ban, which restricts the company’s access to American-origin technologies such as software and semiconductors.

However, Huawei’s septuagenarian founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei may need to double down on initiatives to bolster confidence in the world’s biggest network gear maker, as political and economic headwinds still threaten to push its overseas business off a cliff.

“Our strong results in the third quarter show that we continue to have the trust and support of our clients and customers,” Huawei said in an emailed statement. “Despite the challenges, we have continued to achieve quality growth.”

Separate interviews with five current Huawei employees, who have direct knowledge of recent initiatives and who spoke on condition of anonymity, described how the company – with Ren taking a more hands-on approach – has made a united stand against the US government’s campaign to undermine its business around the world.

The initial strategy involved a sharper focus on media relations, which involved maintaining a consistent message: Huawei does not spy for Beijing and will not share user data with the Chinese government.

Within days of the US Commerce Department announcing that Huawei had been added to its blacklist, a crack team was formed by the company’s carrier business group, including staff from legal, product marketing, global sales, supply chain, and technical support.

Their mission was to immediately respond to all relevant inquiries – at any time, seven days a week – from Huawei’s partners and customers in more than 170 countries worldwide.

Meanwhile, Ren, the son of schoolteachers and a survivor of China’s great famine between 1958 and 1961, has put himself front and center in Huawei’s increased media relations effort, as the company seeks to project a more transparent and open image.

Before his daughter Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s chief financial officer, was arrested in Vancouver in December last year at the request of the US government, Ren had never given a television interview nor did he often speak to journalists because he was content to let his lieutenants do all the talking.