Chinese tech giant Huawei, once crippled by U.S. trade sanctions, has now taken the lead over Samsung Electronics with the launch of the world’s first tri-fold smartphone. It’s a remarkable turnaround for a company that was on the brink of collapse just a few years ago.
In 2019, the U.S. government blacklisted Huawei, accusing it of using telecommunications equipment for Chinese espionage. As a result, Huawei was forced out of the global telecom market, and its revenue plunged by 30%, putting the company in jeopardy.
Despite the setback, Huawei pushed through by investing 25% of its revenue in research and development, focusing on technological independence and product innovation. These efforts have borne fruit. On Sept. 10, the same day Apple unveiled its iPhone 16 series, Huawei introduced the Mate XT, the world’s first tri-fold smartphone. When fully unfolded, it reaches the size of a tablet and is priced at twice the cost of the iPhone.
In 2019, when Samsung launched the world’s first foldable phone, Huawei vowed to surpass its rival. That goal has been achieved, as Huawei overtook Samsung to become the top seller in the global foldable smartphone market in the first half of 2024.
Huawei has also expanded into the electric vehicle market, developing self-driving cars with proprietary systems. In the first half of 2024, the company generated more than 2 trillion won in revenue from its electric vehicle business alone. Huawei’s total revenue for the same period reached 78 trillion won, surpassing its pre-sanction sales in 2019. The company, which employs 110,000 people in R&D, is also developing a high-performance AI semiconductor chip to rival Nvidia’s H100, and is working on advanced lithography equipment to replace ASML’s EUV systems, which are banned from being exported to China.
Despite U.S. sanctions, Huawei’s competitiveness has only grown stronger, according to The Wall Street Journal. In China, companies like Huawei are thriving in industries such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence, big data, aerospace, and urban air mobility. A recent report by the Korea International Trade Association noted that “China has caught up with South Korea in almost every field except semiconductors.”
The question remains whether South Korea, where top talent is increasingly focused on the medical field and strict regulations abound, can withstand China’s growing competitiveness.
