Apple Has Been Dethroned — Here's Everything To Know About Their Biggest Competitor

Apple Has Been Dethroned — Here's Everything To Know About Their Biggest Competitor

August of 2018 will forever be remembered as the month that Apple became the first U.S. company to ever be valued at more than $1 trillion.

It's a big milestone for a company that was running on fumes just twenty years ago — but Apple can't celebrate for long, as an ambitious smartphone maker has set its sights on dethroning the iPhone.

Apple, meet Huawei.

This Chinese company, headquartered in the bustling tech mecca of Shenzhen, has been in business since 1987. 

In case you're curious, the official pronunciation is "Hwa-Way." Its logo represents a flower and its name means, literally, "Chinese achievement."

It's a Chinese company, but its reach is global.

Huawei has research and development institutes all around the world, from Canada to the United Kingdom to Russia to India.

It's been making crazy money in recent years, raking in tens of millions of dollars in profits annually.

Huawei's all about investing in tech and making quality products.

While earlier handsets were more bare-bones and tailored for developing countries, Huawei's branched out.

In 2015 they built Google's flagship Nexus 6P smartphone. Their next flagship, the P20 Pro, will be the first smartphone to feature three rear cameras.

They've almost reached the top of the heap.

Apple might be a trillion-dollar company, but they now rank behind Huawei in smartphone share. In the second quarter of 2018, Huawei surpassed Apple for global smartphone shipments, making them number two in the world behind Samsung.

There's more though...

Why isn't Huawei a household name?

Well, for starters, they've found most of their success in European and Asian markets, meaning Huawei is still a virtual unknown in the United States.

Huawei wants to enter the U.S. market, but there are obstacles.

Breaking into the market would require agreements with U.S. telecom providers — but so far, big players like AT&T and Verizon have roundly rejected Huawei.

It's been a frustrating slog for the ambitious company.

Earlier this summer, Huawei's chairman, frustrated by his company's slow growth in the U.S., lashed out at American lawmakers, calling them "closed-minded."

Why aren't companies partnering with Huawei?

The true reason is basically a microcosm of the often uneasy relationship between the United States and China — and it'll take some diplomacy to solve this problem.

Huawei's been accused of espionage.

Earlier this year, Huawei's U.S. expansion efforts were dealt a major blow when U.S. intelligence sources have advised consumers against buying Huawei products.

The CIA, FBI, NSA, and more say they just don't trust Huawei.

Their argument — that Chinese multinational companies have created cybersecurity risks in the past, and that Huawei is no different — won over lawmakers and retailers.

Huawei defended themselves.

The company pointed out that their handsets are sold in 170 countries without issue, but the damage was already done — they were essentially frozen out of the lucrative U.S. market.

We don't know where this will go.

There are movements to ban Huawei phones altogether. But ban or no ban, Apple had best not rest on their laurels, because Huawei has made it clear that they're gunning for the top.