The Chinese company Huawei has enjoyed phenomenal success and recently edged out Apple as the second-largest producer of smartphones in the world (behind Samsung). The company, valued at $8.4 billion and generating almost $86 billion in annual sales, operates in 170 countries and enjoys numerous government partnerships.
It’s also faced scrutiny. The CEO, Ran Zhengfei, founded the company after working as a senior technologist for the People’s Liberation Army. Western intelligence services have continually issued warnings about security issues posed by the company’s ties to Chinese government and warned government officials from using its products. In 2012, Congress went so far as to issue a report labeling the company a national security threat.
