Coming to America: Huawei aims to make a big splash in Apple’s home market
China’s largest smartphone brand takes a major leap forward at this week’s CES trade show in Las Vegas, as it woos US consumers away from main rivals Apple and Samsung
More than five years since a US Congressional investigation named it a national security threat, Huawei Technologies, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker, is set to relaunch in America as a major smartphone brand, backed by one of the country’s biggest mobile network operators.
Huawei is widely expected to introduce mobile carrier AT&T as its partner at the annual CES trade show in Las Vegas this week, enabling the Shenzhen-based company to bring its branded smartphones across the US for the first time to compete against popular devices from main rivals Apple and Samsung Electronics.
AT&T had about 153 million total wireless subscribers in the US and Mexico as of the third quarter of last year, which may provide a solid starting point for Huawei’s expansion plans in North America.
Still, making a big splash with consumers in the world’s third-largest smartphone market is likely to be a tough task for privately-held Huawei.
“So far, the biggest obstacle for Huawei had been to position itself as a world-class smartphone brand, like Apple or Samsung, that can independently survive and sell on the store shelves of mobile carriers,” Counterpoint Research director Neil Shah said in an interview.
