Huawei defies US sanctions, market sales surge 30%
Huawei and 5G signs are on display during the 10th Global mobile broadband forum hosted by Chinese tech giant Huawei in Zurich, Switzerland, on Oct. 15, 2019. (AFP Photo)
Chinese technology giant Huawei is set to release its first flagship cell phone model featuring a fully domestically developed operating system on Tuesday, following last month’s report indicating a 30% increase in sales during the first nine months of 2024 compared to the previous year.
Huawei hopes to become the third major mobile operating system alongside Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android with the Mate 70 smartphone which will run on HarmonyOS Next. This is the latest indicator that U.S. sanctions designed to weaken the company may have strengthened Huawei’s technological position.
Huawei’s new model near 5G speed
The software launch of the Mate 70 builds on the hardware momentum gained last year with the introduction of the Mate 60, capable of near-5G speeds—something many in Washington believed to be unattainable.
“This is a significant milestone for China, driven by fears that the U.S. can cut off everything,” said Paul Triolo, a technology expert at Albright Stonebridge Group.
U.S. sanctions in 2019 severed Huawei’s access to Google Mobile Services, forcing the company to release the first version of HarmonyOS.
