CES 2018 was supposed to mark Huawei’s proper entry into the US market, teaming up with major networks to sell phones on contract.
Unfortunately, AT&T pulled out of the deal in the days before CES, apparently due to US government pressure. It all made for a rather awkward speech by Huawei’s Richard Yu.
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Now, Bloomberg reports that fellow US network Verizon has also decided to drop Huawei phones. The publication, citing “people familiar with the matter”, said this was due to pressure from the US government as well.
The network decisions come as the US government continues to grapple with Huawei, making vague claims about security and privacy concerns. To be fair, the Chinese company was embroiled in legal cases with Cisco and T-Mobile over the years, pertaining to industrial espionage.
But, as we noted in a recent opinion piece, Huawei has also been a victim of cyber-attacks by US state actors. The company has also dramatically ramped up its R&D spending, reportedly beating Apple in this department. And the firm has shored up its patent portfolio over the years too.
Can Huawei hit the number one spot without US network support though? It’ll be a major challenge, at the very least…
