History of Huawei in Timeline

Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., headquartered in Shenzhen, China, is a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics, and smart devices. Founded in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei, a former PLA officer, Huawei has expanded its operations to include rooftop solar products. The company's wide range of products and services has positioned it as a major player in the technology industry.

1987: Huawei Founded as a Collectively-Owned Enterprise

In 1987, Huawei was established as a collectively-owned enterprise, an intermediary corporate ownership status between state-owned enterprises and private businesses.

1987: Huawei's Early Funding

In 1987, Ren Zhengfei and five other investors contributed RMB 3,500 each, totaling RMB 21,000 (about $5,000 at the time), in registered capital for the founding of Huawei.

1990: Huawei Starts R&D and PBX Switch Commercialization

By 1990, Huawei had around 600 R&D staff and began independently commercializing its own PBX switches, targeting hotels and small enterprises.

1992: Huawei Targets Niche Markets

In 1992, facing stiff competition from companies like Alcatel, Lucent, and Nortel Networks, Huawei decided to focus on low-income and hard-to-reach market niches in underdeveloped regions to gain market share.

1992: Chinese Government Begins Issuing Licenses for Private Businesses

Starting in 1992, the Chinese government began issuing licenses for private businesses.

1993: Huawei Launches C&C08 Program Controlled Telephone Switch

In 1993, Huawei launched the C&C08 program controlled telephone switch, the most powerful switch available in China at the time, and gained market share by focusing on smaller cities and rural areas.

1994: Huawei Wins Contract with the PLA

In 1994, Huawei won a key contract to build the first national telecommunications network for the People's Liberation Army, strengthening the company's relationship with the Chinese military.

1996: Chinese Government Supports Domestic Telecom Manufacturers

In 1996, the Chinese government implemented a policy to support domestic telecommunications manufacturers and restrict foreign competition, benefiting Huawei's growth.

1997: Huawei Wins Contract with Hutchison Whampoa and Expands Wireless Products

In 1997, Huawei secured a contract with Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa to provide fixed-line network products and launched wireless GSM-based products, expanding its offerings to include CDMA and UMTS technologies.

1997: Shenzen Issues Provisions on State-Owned Company Employee Stock Option Plans

In 1997, Shenzen issued Provisions on State-owned Company Employee Stock Option Plans.

1999: Huawei Establishes R&D Center in India

In 1999, Huawei opened a research and development (R&D) center in Bengaluru, India, focusing on developing a wide range of telecom software.

February 2003: Cisco Sues Huawei for Intellectual Property Theft

In February 2003, Cisco Systems sued Huawei Technologies for allegedly infringing on its patents and illegally copying source code used in its routers and switches.

July 2003: Huawei Establishes Handset Department

In July 2003, Huawei established their handset department.

July 2004: Huawei Settles with Cisco, Admits to Copying Router Software

In July 2004, Huawei settled its lawsuit with Cisco Systems out of court. As part of the settlement, Huawei removed the contested code, manuals, and command-line interfaces, and admitted to copying some of Cisco's router software.

2004: Huawei Ships First Phone

In 2004, Huawei shipped their first phone, the C300.

2004: Nortel Targeted by Chinese Hackers, Huawei Benefits

In 2004, Nortel, a Canadian telecommunications company, was reportedly compromised by Chinese hackers who accessed executive credentials and took over entire computers. Brian Shields, former chief security officer at Nortel, does not believe Huawei was directly involved but thinks that Huawei benefited from the hack, which resulted in the theft of documents including product roadmaps, sales proposals, and technical papers.

2004: Huawei Employee Allegedly Photographs Competitors' Circuit Boards

In 2004, a Huawei employee was accused of opening up the networking equipment of other companies to photograph the circuit boards at the Supercomm tech conference in Chicago.

June 2005: Huawei's First 3G Phone

The U626 was Huawei's first 3G phone released in June 2005.

2006: Huawei Launches First Vodafone-Branded 3G Handset

In 2006, Huawei launched the first Vodafone-branded 3G handset, the V710.

2009: Huawei Marine Networks Delivers HANNIBAL Submarine Communications Cable System

In 2009, Huawei Marine Networks delivered the HANNIBAL submarine communications cable system for Tunisie Telecom across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy.

2009: NSA Infiltrates Huawei's Computer Network

In 2009, the National Security Agency (NSA), with the involvement of the White House intelligence coordinator and the FBI, infiltrated Huawei's computer network.

2009: Huawei Unveils First Android Smartphone

The U8220, Huawei's first Android smartphone, was unveiled in MWC 2009.

2010: Huawei Works with 80% of the World's Top 50 Telecom Companies

By the beginning of 2010, approximately 80% of the world's top 50 telecoms companies had worked with Huawei.

2011: Huawei Enters Photovoltaic Market

Huawei entered the photovoltaic (PV) market in 2011, and opened an Energy Center of Competence in Nuremberg, Germany the same year.

2011: Open Source Enterprise Report Raises Suspicions

In 2011, a report by the Open Source Enterprise raised "suspicions over potential close links between Huawei and the Chinese Government," citing former chairwoman Sun Yafang's prior employment by the Ministry of State Security (MSS)'s Communications Department.

September 2012: Huawei Launches First 4G Ready Phone

In September 2012, Huawei launched their first 4G ready phone, the Ascend P1 LTE.

2012: Huawei Becomes World's Largest Telecom Equipment Maker

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. was the world's largest telecom equipment maker in 2012 and China's largest telephone-network equipment maker.

2012: Huawei Implicated in Australian Telecom Hack

In 2012, Australian and US intelligence agencies concluded that Huawei was involved in a hack on Australia's telecom networks. However, the network operators disputed the claim.

2012: Huawei Becomes the Largest Telecom Equipment Manufacturer

In 2012, Huawei surpassed Ericsson to become the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer in the world.

June 2013: Huawei Launches Ascend P6

In June 2013, Huawei launched the Ascend P6.

December 2013: Huawei Introduces Honor as Independent Brand

In December 2013, Huawei introduced Honor as a subsidiary independent brand in China.

May 2014: Huawei Launches Ascend P7

In May 2014, Huawei launched the Ascend P7.

2014: China Passes Counter-Espionage Law

In 2014, China's legislature passed the Counter-Espionage Law which fueled concerns that Huawei's equipment could enable surveillance by the Chinese government.

2014: NSA Infiltrates Huawei Networks

In 2014, the National Security Agency (NSA) reportedly penetrated Huawei's corporate networks in China, aiming to investigate potential connections between the company and the People's Liberation Army.

2014: Counter-Espionage Law Raises Concerns About Business Cooperation with Intelligence Agencies

In 2014, the implementation of the Counter-Espionage Law in China raised further concerns about the obligation of businesses, including Huawei, to cooperate with Chinese intelligence and security agencies upon request.

2014: Reports Reveal NSA Infiltration of Huawei

Reports from Der Spiegel and The New York Times in 2014 revealed that the NSA had infiltrated Huawei's computer network in 2009, obtaining customer lists, internal training documents, and access to the company's central email archive.

2014: Huawei Becomes World's No. 1 Applicant for International Patents

With 3,442 patents, Huawei became the world's No. 1 applicant for international patents in 2014.

January 2015: Huawei Discontinues "Ascend" Brand, Launches P Series

In January 2015, Huawei discontinued the "Ascend" brand for its flagship phones and launched the new P series with the Huawei P8.

September 2015: Huawei Partners with Google to Build Nexus 6P

Huawei partnered with Google to build the Nexus 6P which was released in September 2015.

September 2015: Huawei Releases First Smartwatch

The Huawei Watch, an Android Wear-based smartwatch, was released at Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin on September 2, 2015. It is the first smartwatch produced by Huawei.

September 2016: Huawei Integrates New Manufacturing Capabilities in Eindhoven

In September 2016, Huawei integrated new manufacturing capabilities into its Eindhoven hub in the Netherlands, where it can produce 7,000 inverter units per month.

2016: Huawei Partners with Leica

In 2016, German camera company Leica established a partnership with Huawei to co-engineer Leica cameras into Huawei smartphones, including the P and Mate Series. The first smartphone to be co-engineered with a Leica camera was the Huawei P9.

2016: Huawei Enters Laptop Market with MateBook Series

In 2016, Huawei entered the laptop markets with the release of its Huawei MateBook series of laptops.

April 2017: Huawei Enters Residential Solar Market

In April 2017, Huawei enters the residential solar market with the launch of its string solar inverters and DC power optimizers.

2017: Experts Highlight Concerns Over New National Intelligence Law

Experts raised concerns in 2017 regarding the implications of China's new national intelligence law, which compels businesses to cooperate with intelligence agencies, suggesting Huawei could be forced to comply with government requests.

2017: China Passes National Intelligence Law

In 2017, China passed the National Intelligence Law which further increased concerns that Huawei and other companies could be compelled to cooperate with state intelligence.

2017: Huawei Cites Legal Opinion Regarding National Intelligence Law

In 2017, Huawei cited a legal opinion from Zhong Lun Law Firm, arguing that the National Intelligence Law doesn't apply to them. However, this opinion faced criticism and doubts regarding its validity and reassurance.

2017: Huawei Found Liable for Misappropriating T-Mobile Trade Secrets

In 2017, a jury found that Huawei had misappropriated trade secrets of T-Mobile US. However, damages were awarded only for a breach of supplier contract, and T-Mobile was not compensated for claims of espionage.

May 2018: Huawei Stops Allowing Bootloader Unlocking

In May 2018, Huawei stated that they will no longer allow unlocking the bootloader of their phones to allow installing third-party system software or security updates after Huawei stops them.

August 2018: US Bans Huawei and ZTE Equipment from Government Use

In August 2018, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (NDAA 2019) was signed into law, banning the use of Huawei and ZTE equipment by the US federal government due to security concerns.

2018: Huawei Marine Completes South Atlantic Interlink (SAIL) Cable System

In 2018, Huawei Marine completed the South Atlantic Interlink (SAIL) Cable System which runs from Kribi, Cameroon to Fortaleza, Brazil.

2018: Huawei Surpasses Apple in Smartphone Sales

In 2018, Huawei surpassed Apple to become the largest smartphone manufacturer worldwide.

March 2019: Huawei Sues US Government Over Equipment Ban

In March 2019, Huawei filed a lawsuit challenging the NDAA 2019 equipment ban, arguing that it was unconstitutional as it specifically targeted Huawei without due process.

May 2019: Partial Ban on Huawei Imposed, Excluding Most Non-American Chips

In May 2019, the US imposed a partial ban on Huawei, which did not affect most non-American produced chips. The Trump administration granted several extensions on the ban.

May 2019: US Adds Huawei to Entity List, Restricting Business Dealings

On May 15, 2019, the US Department of Commerce added Huawei and 70 of its foreign subsidiaries and "affiliates" to its Entity List, citing indictments related to violations of US sanctions against Iran. This action restricted US companies from doing business with Huawei without a government license.

June 2019: Huawei Cuts Jobs at Santa Clara Research Center

In June 2019, Huawei cut jobs at its Santa Clara research center amidst a trade war between China and the United States.

August 2019: Huawei Releases Smartglasses with Gentle Monster

In August 2019, Huawei collaborated with eyewear company Gentle Monster and released smartglasses.

November 2019: Huawei Unveils Sound X Speaker with Devialet

In November 2019, Huawei partnered with Devialet and unveiled a new specifically designed speaker, the Sound X.

November 2019: Huawei Launches MatePad Pro Tablet

The Huawei MatePad Pro was launched in November 2019, followed by subsequent releases of their MatePad tablet line.

December 2019: Huawei Unveils HMS Version 4.0

In December 2019, Huawei unveiled HMS version 4.0.

2019: Huawei Becomes Second-Biggest Smartphone Maker

Huawei became the second-biggest smartphone maker in the world, after Samsung, in the first quarter of 2019.

2019: Huawei Has Second Most Patents Granted by European Patent Office

In 2019, Huawei had the second most patents granted by the European Patent Office.

2019: Huawei Denies Espionage Allegations

In 2019, Ren Zhengfei and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang publicly denied Huawei's involvement in espionage activities, emphasizing that the company does not install backdoors or spy on other countries.

2019: Report Reveals Potential Links Between Huawei Employees and Chinese State Security

In 2019, a study by the Henry Jackson Society revealed potential links between Huawei employees and the Chinese state security apparatus, including individuals with backgrounds in the Ministry of State Security and the People's Liberation Army.

2019: Leaked Documents Raise Questions About Huawei's Business with North Korea

In 2019, leaked documents obtained by The Washington Post raised concerns about Huawei's potential secret business dealings with North Korea, which was under numerous US sanctions at the time.

January 2020: Huawei Reports 55,000 Apps Using HMS Core Software

As of 16 January 2020, Huawei reported that it had signed up 55,000 apps using its HMS Core software.

February 2020: US Department of Justice Charges Huawei with Racketeering and Trade Secret Theft

In February 2020, the United States Department of Justice charged Huawei with racketeering and conspiring to steal trade secrets from six US firms. Huawei argued that these allegations, some dating back almost 20 years, had never resulted in any significant monetary judgment.

May 2020: US Extends Ban to Include Semiconductors Customized for Huawei

In May 2020, the US expanded the ban to include semiconductors specifically designed for Huawei and manufactured using US technology.

August 2020: Blanket Ban on Semiconductor Sales to Huawei Takes Effect

In August 2020, the US implemented a blanket ban on all semiconductor sales to Huawei.

September 2020: Blanket Semiconductor Ban and Display Supply Restrictions Implemented

The blanket ban on semiconductor sales to Huawei came into effect in September 2020. Additionally, Samsung and LG Display were prohibited from supplying displays to Huawei.

October 2020: Huawei Releases Petal Maps

In October 2020, Huawei released its own mapping service, Petal Maps, which was developed in partnership with Dutch navigation device manufacturer TomTom.

2020: Huawei Continues Releasing MateBook Laptop Models

Huawei continued to release laptop models in the MateBook series into 2020 with their most recent models being the MateBook X Pro and Matebook 13 2020.

2020: Huawei Publishes 5464 Patent Applications Under PCT System

Huawei published 5464 patent applications under the PCT system in 2020.

2020: Huawei Sells Honor Brand

In 2020, Huawei agreed to sell the Honor brand to a state-owned enterprise of the Shenzhen municipal government.

2020: Huawei Surpasses Samsung in Smartphone Sales

In 2020, Huawei surpassed Samsung to become the largest smartphone manufacturer worldwide.

2020: Huawei Releases Smartwatches with In-House Operating Systems

Since 2020, Huawei released subsequent models using in-house operating systems from LiteOS powered models to the latest HarmonyOS powered watches.

July 2021: Huawei Hires Tony Podesta as a Consultant and Lobbyist

In July 2021, Huawei hired Tony Podesta as a consultant and lobbyist to nurture the company's relationship with the Biden administration.

September 2021: Huawei Enters Workstation and Desktop PC Market

The MateStation S and X was released in September 2021 among successor releases of variants, marking Huawei entrance into the workstation, desktop PC space with All-in-one and Thin client PCs.

December 2021: Huawei Unveils AITO M5

In December 2021, the AITO M5 was unveiled as the first vehicle to be developed in cooperation with Huawei. The model was developed mainly by Seres and is essentially a restyled Seres SF5 crossover.

2021: Huawei's Solar Inverter Shipments Increase Significantly

Huawei saw a significant shipment increase of 83% in their solar inverters compared to 2021.

2021: Huawei Fails to Report Ultimate Beneficial Ownership in Europe

In 2021, Huawei did not report its ultimate beneficial ownership in Europe as required by European anti-money laundering laws.

2021: Honor Devices Remain Similar to Huawei Phones

In 2021, Wired magazine noted that Honor devices still had not differentiated their software much from Huawei phones and that core apps and certain engineering features, like the Honor-engineered camera features looked "virtually identical' across both phones.

2021: Huawei Ranked 1st in World for Patent Applications

In 2021, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)'s annual World Intellectual Property Indicators report ranked Huawei's number of patent applications published under the PCT System as 1st in the world.

May 2022: Huawei and Leica Partnership Ends

As of May 2022, Huawei's partnership with Leica ended.

November 2022: FCC Bans Huawei Equipment

In November 2022, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) banned the sales or import of equipment made by Huawei due to national security concerns.

2022: Huawei Becomes Largest Producer of Solar Inverters

As of 2022, Huawei is the largest producer of solar inverters in the world with a 29% market share.

September 25, 2023: Huawei Announces Watch Ultimate Design

Huawei Watch Ultimate Design was announced on September 25, 2023.

October 2023: Former MI6 Spy Suggests Hamas Used Huawei Devices in Attack on Israel

On October 8, 2023, former MI6 spy Aimen Dean posted on X that Israel's failure to detect the Hamas-led attack was partly due to the militants' use of Huawei phones, tablets, and laptops. Dean suggested that US sanctions forcing Huawei to develop its own systems made them difficult to hack except by China.

October 2023: Huawei Releases Watch Ultimate Design Worldwide

The Huawei Watch Ultimate Design was released worldwide on October 4, 2023.

2023: Huawei is the Leading 5G Equipment Manufacturer

As of 2023, Huawei is the leading 5G equipment manufacturer and has the greatest market share of 5G equipment and has built approximately 70% of worldwide 5G base stations.

2023: Honor and Xiaomi Partner with Leica

As of 2023, smartphone makers Honor and Xiaomi have partnerships with Leica.

2023: Huawei to Unveil Luxeed S7 with Harmony OS 4

The Luxeed S7, an upcoming premium electric executive sedan, is due to be unveiled in Q3 2023, and would be the first car to have the Harmony OS 4 system on board.

January 2024: Huawei Ends In-House Lobbying Operations in Washington, D.C.

In January 2024, Bloomberg News reported that Huawei ended its in-house lobbying operations in Washington, D.C.

January 2024: Netgear Sues Huawei for Antitrust Violations and Fraud

In January 2024, Netgear, a computer networking company based in San Jose, California, filed a lawsuit against Huawei in a California federal court. The lawsuit alleged that Huawei violated United States antitrust law by withholding patent licenses, in addition to accusations of fraud and racketeering.