Trump looms over the successful global expansion of Chinese smartphone players

The Xiaomi booth at the Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, Spain. Arjun Kharpal | CNBC Just as Huawei is looking to dip its toe into international smartphone sales again and other Chinese players are growing quickly, Trump is back in the White House, which is likely to overshadow these companies' presence at MWC, according to Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight. "I think also unfortunately for Huawei, just as they are starting to get back on their feet, the re-emergence of Trump and his overall strategy with regards to 'America First' and placing pressure on the Chinese, not only affects Huawei, but it affects all of the Chinese manufacturers that will be at MWC," Wood told CNBC. "I think it's very much going to be the elephant in the room at MWC with regards to a huge amount of investment and lavish spending by the Chinese manufacturers, with the shadow of what's going to happen in coming months hanging over them." Xiaomi, Oppo and Honor were not immediately available for co ... Read full article.