HUAWEI AND XIAOMI: THE COMPANIES BEHIND THE PHONES

MAJOR CHALLENGES FOR THE EAST ASIAN MANUFACTURERS

In last week’s issue, we looked at the wave of Chinese-branded smartphones entering global territories outside East Asia and how these devices compare to Apple’s offerings in their features and software. While there’s now a long list of Chinese smartphone purveyors, two brands that particularly stand out are Huawei and Xiaomi, which are now both vulnerable to the escalating trade war waged by the Trump administration against imports from the People’s Republic.

Fortunately for Huawei and Xiaomi, they have grown to such an extent – both as companies and in terms of smartphone market share – that they can afford to weather the storm of this trade conflict. However, this isn’t to say that their hard-earned