Could Huawei be the next Apple or Samsung?

Major mobile manufacturers such as Apple, LG, Nokia, and Samsung are part of everyday lives and lingo, also part to the massive advertising campaigns. That could all change in the years to come if China's Huawei has their way. Haven't heard of Huawei? Well to begin with, let's take a quick lesson on how to pronounce Huawei; it's "Wah Way".

According to an interview with The Telegraph, Huawei's CEO Wan Biao is quite determined and optimistic to make Huawei a household name, "If you look back five years ago, Apple is small, Samsung is not so big," says Wan. "You can't see where we'll be in five years. At least top three. Maybe number one."

This follows the controversy from speculation by Western nations, such as Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, that Huawei has built spying capabilities into their hardware. The U.S. House Intelligence committee even went on record accusing Huawei of being a national security threat, more so as the business is headed by a former Chinese Red Army engineer, Ren Zhengfei.

Amid all these inconclusive accusations, at the Mobile World Conference (MWC) 2013 last week in Barcelona, Spain, Huawei debuted their latest offering, the Ascend P2. Billed as the world’s fastest LTE mobile device, with a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor and speeds up to 150 Mbps. Using in-cell technology, it has a large 4.7 inches (1280 X 720 pixels) touch screen, with enhanced screen response, even with gloves. The screen also automatically adjusts and adapts its brightness under different lighting conditions. The single window for smart reading can also be used for instant word translations and Wikipedia searches.

The Ascend P2 also comes equipped with 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage. The smartphone runs on Google’s Android 4.1 Jellybean, along with dual cameras: a 1.3 MP front facing camera and 13 MP auto focus camera with LED flash. In addition to Google Android devices, Huawei is also working on devices using both the Windows 8 platform and newly launched Intel Tizen, which ironically, was also introduced at the MWC by rival Samsung.

The real advantage that Huawei has over other mobile manufacturers is that not only do they make their own mobile devices, Huawei also designs, develops, and implements mobile networks. Even though the speeds on 4G networks are regulated by mobile carriers, Huawei comes out a winner because of their own network design. Huawei products are already available in nations such as Canada and the U.K. Furthermore, in Canada, at least one mobile carrier, SaskTel, is upgrading their network using Huawei technology.