The US is responding to asymmetrical access. Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram et al have been blocked for years in China. As of this week I'm ok with that but I digress. Apple's the only foreign cell phone maker that's really done alright in absolute dollar terms, but their market share is rather small. Access to the tantalizing "rising chinese middle class" is tantalizing and highly conditional.
https://www.counterpointresearch.com/china-smartphone-share/
> Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram et al have been blocked for years in China.
The Chinese government did not decide this on a whim, these companies are not willing to comply with Chinese rules within China. Whatever we might think of these rules the bottom line is that these companies are not in China because they have decided not to be. And when they try to move in, like Google did, their very employees argue against it.
China is Apple's largest market, iirc, they are doing very well there. For smartphones their market share is 3 times their market share in India. Still, a lot of Chinese still cannot afford iPhones and China has many domestic manufacturers: Actual competition is fierce, this has nothing to do with politics.
The argument that the US are retaliating against China blocking the FAANG is largely for the show but not reality.
That’s a bit rich. The same could be argued about Huawei. The rules in the US are don’t be agent for a foreign government, but Huawei wouldn’t agree to that. So it’s also their own choice.
Aside from the spying, Huawei has zero regard for Intellectual Property law, as demonstrated by numerous cases of stolen code, designs, and even wholesale products.
"US officials say ..." - That counts for very little. Where's the evidence?
The other stories are about some of Huawei's employees having on their CV that they've worked with the PLA and other government agencies. By that metric, what major US company isn't connected to the US government?
> numerous cases of stolen code, designs, and even wholesale products.
This is a huge exaggeration. Huawei has had IP disputes with other companies, and there have been some allegations like T-Mobile's claims about its "Tappy" robot being copied, but this is all relatively minor stuff for a massive company. Compared to the IP disputes between Apple and Samsung, for example, this is peanuts.
On the other hand, Huawei is one of the largest R&D spenders in the world now.
