Huawei says business is expanding despite US pressure

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei said on Monday that its business is expanding, despite pressure from the U.S. 

Huawei in its first publicly released quarterly earnings report said revenue for the first three months of 2019 rose to $26.8 billion, 39 percent higher than the same period last year. The company added that its net profit margin increased 8 percent from the first quarter of 2018. 

The Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer also said it shipped 59 million phones in the first quarter and predicted that 2019 “will be a year of large-scale deployment of 5G around the world” and the company will see “unprecedented opportunities for growth.”{mosads}

The U.S. frames the company as a national security threat, alleging that its technology can be accessed by Chinese intelligence, and urges other countries to institute a ban on its products. 

Just last week, the CIA reportedly accused Huawei of being backed by China’s state security apparatus.

Huawei has denied that its phones and devices can be accessed by Chinese intelligence services or used to spy on consumers in other countries.

The company is currently engaged in a lawsuit over the U.S. government’s ban on its products. 

The European Union and Germany have so far declined to ban Huawei’s products, as the U.S. reportedly requested, but Australia and Japan have barred the company from the rollout of 5G next-generation wireless networks in the two countries.

Huawei said on Monday that it has signed 40 commercial contracts to roll out 5G technology with leading global carriers.

Critics have claimed that the U.S. is attacking Huawei partially in order to hinder China’s ability to roll out 5G before the U.S.