Last year, Huawei marked a notable bright spot in an otherwise flagging smartphone market. It was a remarkable rise for the handset maker, given the slowing pace of sales in China, not to mention the handset maker’s tenuous relationships with the U.S. and Canadian governments.

Reuters notes a 50-percent jump in revenue in 2018, courtesy of a wide range of consumer and telecom products. As Samsung and Apple reckon with their own futures in the smartphone space, Huawei believes it has a reasonable chance of nabbing the number one spot in global sales in spite of on-going spying concerns.

“Even without the U.S. market we will be number one [smartphone maker] in the world,” Huawei Consumer CEO Richard Yu told the service. “I believe at the earliest this year, and next year at the latest.”

The company offered a glimpse into its own 5G plans this week, including a new modem and a chipset, the latter of which is expected to be employed by a foldable smartphone it plans to unveil next month at Mobile World Congress.

Huawei certainly has momentum on its side. The company is also clearly doing something right as it’s been able to buck economic depression, slower upgrade cycles and other factors that have led to a worldwide smartphone slump.

Source: New feed