(Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China) Founded in 1988 by Ren Zhengfei and pronounced "
Wah-way," Huawei is the largest mobile device manufacturer in China and the largest networking and telecom manufacturer worldwide. It is also heavily involved with AI and designs its own AI chips, which were made by TSMC and later SMIC. Huawei is reported to manage several chip fabs in China turning the company into an integrated device manufacturer (see
IDM). See
Ascend chip.
By 2025, Huawei had more than 200,000 employees globally and appears to be both state and employee owned, but it is not a public company. Its products are used in more than 150 countries and by most of the large telecom companies.
Claims of Espionage
The U.S. claimed that Huawei used its products to spy on Americans, which the company vehemently disputes. Nevertheless, in 2018, Huawei abandoned the U.S. consumer market due to these accusations. See
ZTE and
Honor smartphone.