Huawei: Resilience amid Autarky and Adversity

In September 2023, Huawei made a dramatic return to the global smartphone space with the launch of its Mate 60 Pro smartphone, equipped with an indigenously designed, 7nm chip. This came despite a myriad of export controls and restrictions imposed against the company by the Trump and Biden administrations that was supposed to have killed Huawei’s aspirations in the smartphone space. How was the company able to effectively circumvent such controls to return to the global smartphone arena? Moreover, Huawei’s burgeoning businesses in the EV, AI, and cloud computing sectors were also improving rapidly in scale and scope. What challenges loomed ahead for Huawei in these sectors? Should regulatory headwinds in regions like Europe lead the company to abandon operations there in favor of emerging markets like the Asia-Pacific and Middle East? Moreover, who would lead the company going forward as long-time CEO Ren Zhengfei approaches retirement age?