On 10 September 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice opened a federal trial against Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. in the Eastern District of New York, Brooklyn. In the opening statement, DOJ trial attorney Taylor Stout described Huawei as a "criminal enterprise" and alleged that the company stole trade secrets from five U.S. firms to gain an unfair competitive advantage.
Allegations and specific thefts
The prosecutor said Huawei conspired to pilfer proprietary information from five American companies. Two of the alleged thefts were detailed: source code for Cisco Systems’ router operating system and a robotic arm used by T‑Mobile to test smartphones. The filing states that the thefts were intended to help Huawei dominate the global telecommunications market.
“Theft, lies, cover‑up,” Taylor Stout said in the government’s opening statement.
The Guardian’s coverage of the trial confirms the five‑company count and the specific Cisco and T‑Mobile examples.
Huawei’s background
Huawei, founded on 1 January 1987, is headquartered in Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China. The company’s chief executive is Ren Zhengfei, and it employs roughly 180,000 people, according to Wikidata. While the packet notes that Wikidata may lag behind the latest corporate filings, these figures provide the baseline for understanding the scale of the firm now facing U.S. criminal charges.
Defense response
Huawei’s legal team, led by Brian Heberlig, countered that the case is about ordinary competition, not criminal conduct. Heberlig told the court, “It’s about competition, not conspiracy. Innovation, not theft. Ordinary business dealings, not criminal conduct.” The defense frames the dispute as a typical market rivalry rather than a coordinated theft scheme.
Sector context – Cisco’s financial standing
One of the alleged victims, Cisco Systems, reported substantial financial results in its most recent filing. The company’s 2026 fiscal year, ending 25 July 2026, showed net income of $13.267 billion, total assets of $129.637 billion, shareholders’ equity of $50.285 billion, and 3.946 billion shares outstanding. Earlier, Cisco’s 2018 fiscal year recorded revenue of $49.33 billion. These figures illustrate the scale of the U.S. firms that the DOJ claims Huawei targeted.
| Metric | Value | Period | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue (FY 2018) | 49,330,000,000 | 2018 fiscal year | USD |
| Net income (FY 2026) | 13,267,000,000 | 2026 fiscal year | USD |
| Total assets (FY 2026) | 129,637,000,000 | 2026 fiscal year | USD |
| Shareholders’ equity (FY 2026) | 50,285,000,000 | 2026 fiscal year | USD |
| Shares outstanding (FY 2026) | 3,946,000,000 | 2026 fiscal year | shares |
Why the DOJ’s language matters
The opening statement marks the first time the Department of Justice has publicly labeled Huawei a "criminal enterprise". The packet notes this as a new, explicit characterization in a U.S. court, underscoring the heightened legal and political stakes surrounding Chinese technology firms.
Open questions
- The trial transcript has not been released, so the full scope of the DOJ’s evidence remains unknown.
- Huawei has not disclosed how many of the alleged five U.S. companies it actually engaged with beyond Cisco and T‑Mobile.
- The impact on Huawei’s global operations, including its ongoing 5G projects, is still uncertain.
As the case proceeds, investors and policymakers will watch for how the court weighs the DOJ’s criminal‑enterprise framing against Huawei’s defense that the dispute is merely competitive.