Huawei saga: What we know and don't about the highly secretive firm, low-profile family

The daughter of Huawei's founder and its top executive was arrested in Canada and faces extradition to the United States, stirring up fears of reigniting US-China trade war.
The son of schoolteachers in rural Guizhou, Mr Ren Zhengfei founded Huawei in 1987, after the People's Liberation Army disbanded its engineering corps. It was not until 2003 that the company started making mobile phones for the consumer electronics market. PHOTO: EPA/EFE
Tan Dawn Wei China Bureau Chief In Beijing
Updated
Published
December 9, 2018 at 5:00 AM
New: Gift this subscriber-only story to your friends and family

In three decades, former People's Liberation Army (PLA) engineer Ren Zhengfei built one of China's biggest corporate empires, a multinational telecoms and consumer electronics giant that has become one of the nation's greatest success stories.

This year, it overtook Apple as the world's second-largest manufacturer of smartphones, trailing behind Samsung by 5 percentage points in market share. It is also the world's No. 1 in supplying telecommunications networking equipment, surpassing Ericsson in 2012.

Already a subscriber? 

Read the full story and more at $9.90/month

Get exclusive reports and insights with more than 500 subscriber-only articles every month

ST One Digital

 $9.90/month

No contract

ST app access on 1 mobile device

Subscribe now

Unlock these benefits

  • All subscriber-only content on ST app and straitstimes.com

  • Easy access any time via ST app on 1 mobile device

  • E-paper with 2-week archive so you won't miss out on content that matters to you

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on December 09, 2018, with the headline Huawei saga: What we know and don't about the highly secretive firm, low-profile family. Subscribe

Available for
iPhones and iPads
Available in
Google Play

MCI (P) 031/10/2021, MCI (P) 032/10/2021. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2021 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.

Back to the top