Huawei is a massive tech company producing telecommunications services, enterprise tech, and consumer devices, like smartphones. The company sells its products in more than 70 countries.
The company raked in almost $93 billion in sales last year, which puts it about on par with Microsoft. Huawei is the largest maker of telecommunications equipment in the world, and the world's second largest smartphone manufacturer behind Samsung.
Huawei's headquarters are located in Shenzhen, China. While the company has an estimated 180,000 employees worldwide, it has 60,000 employees at its main campus alone. One of the most unique features: a lake home to three black swans, which represent "non-complacency within the corporate culture."
Huawei was founded by Ren Zhengfei in 1987, and he still serves as an executive in the company. Before Huawei, Ren worked as an engineer for China's military, the People's Liberation Army.
next slide will load in 15 secondsSkip AdSkip AdHuawei smartphones are wildly popular around the world, where they often beat out iPhone sales because they're cheap and powerful.
The company has tried to expand into the U.S. market, but a possible distribution deal with AT&T fell through in January. The company hasn't yet found another carrier wanting to partner, which may be in part because of pressure from U.S. officials who distrust Chinese companies. This has limited Huawei's footprint in America.
U.S. lawmakers have long seen Huawei as a security threat, thanks to the company's ties to the Chinese government. Some have floated the theory that Huawei's phones and electronics are used to spy on U.S. government officials. Huawei has consistently denied these allegations.
U.S. concerns over Huawei go beyond cybersecurity, however. Federal officials have reportedly been investigating the Chinese company since 2016 for allegedly shipping products from the U.S. to Iran — which would be a violation of U.S. trading laws and sanctions.
Trade relations between U.S. and China were already on shaky ground before the arrest of Huawei's CFO. The two governments have been locked in a trade war, and both have imposed billions of dollars worth of tariffs on key imports.
next slide will load in 15 secondsSkip AdSkip AdThis week, Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was arrested. She joined Huawei in 1993, where she now serves as the company's chief financial officer and deputy chairwoman of the executive board. She also happens to be the daughter of Huawei's founder.
Meng was arrested in Canada at the request of the U.S. Reports say that she was arrested on suspicion of violating U.S. trade sanctions, which would align with the federal investigation into Huawei. U.S. officials are seeking to extradite her.
Meng's arrest is already escalating tensions between the U.S. and China, coming right as leaders on both sides looked like they were going to come to some kind of agreement. This is being taken by experts as a signal of the Trump administration's hard line on trade relations with China.