Huawei touts phone-shipment record

The world’s largest supplier of telecommunications gear announced Sunday that its 2018 smartphone shipments exceeded 200 million devices, setting a record despite a U.S. crackdown and increasing scrutiny from other nations’ governments.

Huawei, China’s largest privately held company and the world’s second-biggest smartphone-maker, said its phone shipments increased more than 30 percent from last year.

“In the global smartphone market, Huawei has gone from being dismissed as a statistical ‘other’ to ranking among the Top 3 players in the world,” the company said in a statement, according to CNET. Earlier this year, Huawei topped Apple in the number of smartphone units shipped, and it ranks behind only South Korea-based Samsung.

The announcement of record-setting phone sales comes amid increasing tensions between the company and the U.S. government and its allies. Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Canada this month at the request of the U.S. government and is accused of committing fraud to evade sanctions on Iran. Beijing has pushed for her release and suggested that her arrest was part of a U.S. effort to gain an advantage in its ongoing trade battles with China.

Several U.S. allies have followed President Donald Trump’s administration in largely barring the use of Huawei devices. They cite a risk that the company’s technology could be used to inform Chinese intelligence officers aiming to spy on or disrupt foreign governments, military agencies and corporations.

Huawei has posted significant growth even as several governments have moved against it. The company said its record-breaking shipments were largely fueled by the demand for its P20, Honor 10 and Mate 20 smartphones.

—