# How Huawei is winning the race for global 5G telecom dominance: US firms didn't even show up Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhoTv296dp8 Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/BhoTv296dp8 Generated: 2026-01-06T02:33:02.195+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview Huawei is winning the global 5G race due to China's aggressive, state-backed infrastructure strategy, resulting in 4.19 million 5G base stations by 2024 compared to the US's 270,000, and securing major contracts like the recent deals in Vietnam despite US sanctions, which have ironically helped Huawei become more innovative and independent. **Key Points:** - China plans to have an extraordinary 4.19 million 5G base stations by 2024, compared to the US's 270,000, representing a 15.5 times advantage in infrastructure deployment. - Huawei and ZTE recently secured 5G supply deals in Vietnam worth over $20 million, following the announcement of US tariffs on Vietnamese goods, demonstrating continued success abroad. - The US approach focused on spectrum allocation and regulatory framework development for private sector deployment, contrasting with China's state-prioritized infrastructure development as a national economic strategy. - As of September 2025, over 3.2 billion people outside China reside in countries using 5G networks relying on Huawei equipment. - In 2021, Chinese companies accounted for 70% of all global 5G base stations, a position they have maintained and strengthened. - Huawei/ZTE hold a combined 41% share of the global 5G equipment market, while US companies have 0% market share. - US export controls intended to choke Huawei's supply chain have instead forced the company to become more innovative and build an ecosystem entirely independent from US technologies. ![Screenshot at 0:07: Kevin Walmsley displays an ITIF report summary stating that US government attempts to choke Huawei's supply chain via export controls ultimately made Huawei a more innovative company and hurt US competitiveness.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/BhoTv296dp8/00-00-07.jpg) **Context:** This video segment from 'Inside China Business' analyzes the state of the global 5G technology competition between China and the United States, focusing heavily on Huawei's market dominance despite US sanctions. The context is set against the backdrop of the two superpowers pursuing dramatically different strategies for 5G supremacy, with China treating 5G buildout as a national economic stimulus and the US focusing on regulatory framework development. ## Detailed Analysis The video asserts that Huawei is winning the global race for 5G dominance due to China's proactive, state-driven infrastructure strategy, contrasting sharply with the US approach. China prioritized 5G buildout as a national economic strategy, treating it as an economic stimulus during the COVID pandemic, leading to an extraordinary deployment of 4.19 million 5G base stations by 2024, compared to only 270,000 in the United States—a 15.5 times advantage. This infrastructure lead is further supported by China's massive infrastructure investment of $800 billion (2015-2025) versus the US's $430 billion. Furthermore, Chinese companies (Huawei + ZTE) command 41% of the global 5G equipment market share, while US companies hold 0%. Despite US efforts, including sanctions dating back to December 2017, Huawei and ZTE recently sealed major 5G supply deals in Vietnam, even after the White House announced tariffs on Vietnamese goods. As of September 2025, over 3.2 billion people outside China rely on Huawei equipment for their 5G networks. The presenter concludes that the US strategy, focused on spectrum allocation and regulatory framework development, has failed to keep pace, and the sanctions appear to have backfired by spurring Huawei to build an ecosystem entirely independent of US technology. ### US Sanctions Timeline (2017-Present) - Sanctions began in December 2017 with a DoD prohibition on purchasing from Huawei/ZTE for covered missions, expanding to retail bans (May 2018), federal procurement bans (August 2018), and subsequent rulings by the FCC and Department of Commerce throughout 2020-2022. ### Global 5G Adoption Map - The map shows a clear divide, with the US and its allies (dark blue) largely banning Huawei, while orange-colored countries, including much of Asia, South America, and parts of Europe, either use or are phasing out Huawei technologies. ### 5G Race Metrics - China leads the US across all major metrics: 4.19M vs 270K base stations (2024), 1.18B vs 182M subscribers (2024), and 41% vs 0% equipment market share, with China having a higher density of 5G coverage (95% urban areas). ![Screenshot at 0:07: Kevin Walmsley introduces the topic by displaying an ITIF report headline: "Backfire: Export Controls Helped Huawei and Hurt U.S. Firms".](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/BhoTv296dp8/00-00-07.jpg) ![Screenshot at 0:39: A table detailing de facto import bans and actions taken by the US government to exclude Huawei from 5G networks between December 2017 and May 2020.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/BhoTv296dp8/00-00-39.jpg) ![Screenshot at 1:29: A world map illustrating the prevalence of Huawei technologies in 5G infrastructure outside China, with US allies largely banning the company \(dark blue\) and many developing nations using it \(orange\).](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/BhoTv296dp8/00-01-29.jpg) ![Screenshot at 3:51: A bar chart comparing 5G base station buildout projections for China versus the USA from 2020 to 2024, showing China's exponential lead.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/BhoTv296dp8/00-03-51.jpg) ![Screenshot at 4:25: A bar chart illustrating the 5G equipment market share for 2024 by company, where Huawei leads with 39.2% and US companies register 0%.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/BhoTv296dp8/00-04-25.jpg)