Liza Lin, Stu Woo and Raffaele Huang
Five years ago, Washington sanctioned Huawei, cutting off the Chinese company’s access to advanced U.S. technologies because it feared the telecommunications giant would spy on Americans and their allies. Many in the industry thought it would ring the death knell for one of China’s most vital tech players.
Huawei struggled at first—but now it’s come roaring back.
Bolstered by billions of dollars in state support, Huawei has expanded into new businesses, boosted its profitability and found fresh ways to curb its dependence on U.S. suppliers. It has held on to its leading position in the global telecom-equipment market, despite American efforts to squeeze Huawei out of its allies’ networks. And it’s making a big comeback in high-end smartphones, using sophisticated new chips developed in-house to take buyers from Apple.
Along the way, a company that portrayed itself as independent from Beijing has morphed into something more like a national champion, helping China wean itself off foreign suppliers—part of a broader campaign to eliminate U.S. technology in China, dubbed “Delete A,” for Delete America. Its resurgence shows why it’s so hard for America to contain China’s technological ambitions.
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