Rivals looking for signs of weakness in Huawei’s results will be disappointed.

True, the privately held Chinese group’s operating margin contracted, from 18 per cent in the first half of 2015 to 12 per cent. But sales grew 40 per cent, the fastest for several years and ahead of rivals such as Ericsson. Handsets (about a third of sales last year) are a big factor. While the likes of Nokia stopped making phones because they could not compete with Apple and Samsung, Huawei’s gadgets continue to improve and are increasingly popular outside China. Its shipments rose 58 per cent in the first quarter, says IDC.

The company is embroiled in a patent dispute with Samsung, but that is unlikely to prove crippling. A similar bust-up between Apple and Samsung was settled for a manageable $548m.