Huawei defies US sanctions and pledges to return to the “throne of smartphones”

A Huawei executive said on Wednesday that the technology company will return to the “throne” of the smartphone industry even as it continues to suffer from the repercussions of US sanctions.

Under the administration of former US President Donald Trump, Huawei was considered a national security threat, put on an export blacklist and denied the import of key technologies from America, namely the advanced semiconductors needed for its smartphones, according to CNBC.
Huawei’s consumer division revenue fell 47% year-on-year in the first half of 2021, and although the company once ranked first in the smartphone market, it has since fallen out of the top five.

In a question-and-answer session with employees, Guo Bing said, “The biggest difficulty we face nowadays is mobile phones. We know that [to produce] phones with small size and low power consumption requires advanced technology. We can do the design, but no one is able to help us with production, we’re stuck.”

One of Huawei’s biggest problems is that Chinese chip makers don’t have the ability to make the high-end semiconductors the company requires.

However, Guo said, Huawei will not exit the smartphone business and will instead work with partners to improve their technology which in turn will benefit the company as it has access to silicon produced in China.

He added, “I hope the day will come when China will be able to make chips sooner, and until that day, this sector will still exist, and we will try to keep and develop our technologies, to make sure that we can manufacture competitive phones.”