Surprise! Huawei Can Actually Innovate—and Win Fans

Huawei doesn’t leap to mind as an innovative company. In the US, the Chinese telecom giant is best known for the government’s national security concerns—and allegations that it stole intellectual property from companies like Cisco and Motorola.

Yet Huawei was the fifth-biggest research and development spender in the world in 2017, according to a European Union report. Its €11.3 billion ($12.9 billion) R&D spend that year outpaced Intel (€10.9 billion), Apple (€9.7 billion), and Nokia (€4.9 billion). Huawei claims its investments over the years have paid off in the form of 87,805 patents—11,152 of which were granted in the US.

Now Huawei is trying to turn those patents into cash. This month Reuters reported that Huawei wants Verizon to pay $1 billion to license 230 patents. It wouldn't be the first time a company has paid Huawei for patent licenses. The company claims to have generated $1.4 billion in revenue from patent licensing since 2015.