Huawei's Set To Battle US in 5G

It's got major smartphone ambitions

Huawei's consumer division chief made a bold prediction last week: Rams win by 10 The company will become the world's largest smartphone maker.

• "Even without the U.S. market we will be number one in the world," he said. "I believe at the earliest this year, and next year at the latest."
• "Our customers have trust and confidence in us...it's only politics guys which are trying to put pressure on us."

Zoom out: Huawei's consumer business raked in more than $52 billion in revenue last year, the first time it's accounted for more of the company's total sales than Huawei's telecom network business.

Speaking of telecom networks...

The NYT published a remarkable story over the weekend explaining how the Trump administration is pressuring other countries to block Huawei equipment.

What's at stake? The building out of 5G networks...or as the reporters describe it, "the most dramatic remaking of the plumbing that controls the internet since it sputtered into being, in pieces, 35 years ago" (now that's writing). The U.S. believes it's locked in a Cold War-style arms race with China—and by proxy Huawei—to be the world's plumber.