Huawei explained: The Chinese phone company hated and loved in equal measure

In July 2018, the battle between Apple and Samsung to be the world's most popular smartphone maker was finally interrupted. After eight years, a Chinese upstart had entered the fray to challenge Samsung – but few people outside of Asia had ever heard of them. Huawei had overtaken Apple by selling more than 54 million units in the space of three months, largely helped by the success of its hugely popular flagship phones that boasted some of the most impressive specs on the market. Yet various political issues meant only a few thousand of those sales came from the highly lucrative US market. Since then, several other western governments have raised concerns about Huawei in relation to the firm's alleged ties with the Chinese government, with allegations that Huawei devices are being used as spy tools by Beijing.