MUSCAT: Huawei on Wednesday expressed confidence in its growth in the Omani market despite a prolonged US sanctions against its business as the world’s second-biggest smartphone maker seeks to increase its market share in the Arabian Gulf.

“Huawei has been operating in Oman for the last 17 years. Throughout these years we received tremendous support from both government and consumers. This market is starting to appreciate the values of our enterprising solutions. And we see a huge growth in the next three years in Oman market,” said Charles Yang, President of Huawei Middle East during the telecom giant’s ME press conference in Muscat on Wednesday.  

In May last year, the US government placed Huawei and its affiliates on a trade black list that restricted the Shenzhen-based company from buying services and parts from US companies without approval. US President Donald Trump also signed an executive order barring US companies from using telecommunications equipment made by firms posing a national security risk. The move was widely perceived in China as the US trying to contain the rise of its technological capabilities.

Following the export order, top US corporations including chip-makers Intel, Qualcomm, Xilinx and Broadcom have told their employees they will not supply Huawei until further notice, according to a Bloomberg report on Monday. Google also suspended access to some services for new Huawei Android devices.

Asked if suspending its access to Android affected Huawei’s smartphone sales in GCC, Yang had this to say: “I have an amazing figure to show to you. Few weeks ago, we launched the Mate 30 and Mate 30 PRO in UAE. We had no promotion, we had no google ads and yet we have a market share of 10 per cent for these phones.”