The logo of Huawei is seen in front of the local offices of Huawei in Warsaw, Poland. Picture: REUTERS/KACPER PEMPEL
China’s leading telecommunications equipment maker found itself on a US trade blacklist in May 2019 due to national security concerns. Huawei has repeatedly denied it is a risk. “Passage of this death sentence does not involve a swift execution,” technology analyst Dan Wang said in a client note. “Instead, the process is much more like a slow strangulation.”Wang said Huawei will feel the effect most acutely in its consumer business, which brought in 54% of revenue in 2019.
Its luck may change with the US presidential inauguration of Joe Biden, from whom analysts expect more leniency towards Huawei’s smartphone business. The inauguration in January comes as CFO Meng Wangzhou discusses a deal with US prosecutors over allegations of doing business with Iran.