led consumers to purchase Huawei devices in
significant numbers.
Nonetheless, this rally is apparently focused
on Huawei rather than Chinese smartphone
makers more generally. In July, Huawei
reported that over the first six months of 2019,
its revenue had seen year-on-year growth
of roughly 23%. The research firm Canalys has
also released figures revealing that in China,
Huawei shipped over 31% more phones
during the second quarter of 2019 than in the
same quarter a year earlier. It was in this same
quarter that shipments of Chinese brands
Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi also fell by 18%, 19%
and 20% respectively.
Furthermore, it doesn’t even look as though the
American sanctions are primarily achieving their
intended purpose of luring more jobs from the
People’s Republic to U.S. shores. While many
manufacturers have indeed decided to migrate
from China due to the tariffs and lingering
uncertainty about how the trade war will pan
out, the Los Angeles Times reports that
“Taiwan and Southeast Asia are first in line to
absorb any manufacturing exodus”.
HOW HUAWEI AND XIAOMI
ROSE OUT OF NOWHERE
Both Huawei and Xiaomi have grown
significantly in a short space of time. BBC News
has posted a chart showing how Huawei’s
annual revenue has rapidly increased over the
years, from just above $20 billion in 2009 to
roughly $115 billion in 2018. Last year, Huawei’s
investment in research and development also
totaled $15.3 billion – putting the company, on