Here‘s why it’s so hard to buy Huawei devices in the US

Huawei is the largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment in the world, and is the second-largest maker of smartphones in the world, behind Samsung.Despite Huawei's international success, the company's devices are extremely difficult to buy in some markets, like the United States.Some government agencies believe Huawei equipment contains backdoors that allow the Chinese government to snoop on customers. Huawei vehemently disputes these accusations.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.Huawei is back in the news again after President Donald Trump handed down an executive order that punishes the Chinese company and cuts it off from Google, the maker of the Android operating system that powers Huawei's devices.Following the executive order last week, Huawei was placed on an “entity list,” which means that US companies need the government's permission before dealing with Huawei. Google complied with the order, which means Huawei devices will lose access to future Android updates, and new Huawei phones won't have access to Google's services.In February, Huawei, its chief financial officer, and several of its subsidiaries were handed criminal charges. The Justice Department alleged Huawei “stole trade secrets, misled banks about its business and violated US sanctions,” according to the Associated Press.Last December, Huawei's chief financial officer — Meng Wanzhou, who also happens to be the daughter of the company's founder — was arrested in Canada on suspicion of violating US trade sanctions on Iran. She is currently living in Vancouver, Canada, on house arrest, but the US is looking to extradite Wanzhou; the Justice Department alleges she misled banks about the company's business in Iran.Huawei's actions may have major repercussions on the relationships between China, the United States, and also Canada. But people might be wondering why they have never heard of Huawei, which is a massive and influential tech company in most parts of the world.Here's why Huawei's products are extremely hard to find in certain markets like the United States: