Huawei dominates MWC mobile tech fair despite US sanctions

BARCELONA, Spain — A contingent of Chinese companies led by technology giant Huawei is turning the world’s biggest wireless trade fair into an opportunity to show their muscle in the face of Huawei’s blacklisting by Western nations concerned about cybersecurity and escalating tensions with the U.S. over TikTok, spy balloons and computer chips. Brian Chamberlin, executive adviser at Huawei’s wireless carrier group, said “the sanctions have had a big impact” but the company is “not going to try to break any of those rules.” “But at the same time, that’s not going to slow us down from delivering innovation, innovative solutions,” he said at the expo. “We will continue to do business with companies and countries that want our support.” Huawei’s supersized presence at the show is a sign of defiance, said John Strand, a Danish telecom industry consultant. Strand, who has been attending MWC for 26 years, said Huawei wants to show the world it’s pivoting away from mainly making networking gear — the hidden plumbing such as base stations and antennas connecting the world’s mobile devices — and becoming an all-round tech supplier. At MWC, “Huawei may well announce new consumer smartphones and new consumer devices, but the brand has lost momentum and these announcements are primarily for fast-growing markets outside the U.S. and Western Europe.” At Huawei’s pavilion, staff showed visitors the latest 5G antennas alongside equipment for older generations of cellular networks that still account for much of the company’s business.