The U.S. sanction on Huawei: geopolitics as a determining factor in business strategy

Abstract

The foreign policy of large states has a huge impact, in an interdependent world, on global companies in all sectors. In this paper we will analyze, through the case of Huawei, how the trade war between the two largest world powers (and their allies) affects the technology sector and how this Chinese company has adapted its business strategy to the new environment that is presented to it. To examine these effects, the work is divided into two main blocks: first, the conflict and the corporation are contextualized, while in the second part, Huawei’s strategy of two business units - electronic equipments and telecommunications (5G) - is analyzed before and after the geopolitical obstruction. In conclusion, this research should allow us to understand how a large company can deal with a critical external situation as this one and pivot its international business to avoid a hit that, for many other companies, would have been fatal.