Huawei cranks up marketing blitz for image of global brand

Huge investment in innovation paves way for success of its P9 handset in the international market

Chinese tech giant Huawei wants Americans to start thinking of it as a stylish smartphone brand.

Huawei Technologies Ltd, which pulled out of the US market for network switching gear four years ago due to security fears, became the No 3 global smartphone seller last year, overtaking Apple in China. This year, it launched a new flagship smartphone, the P9, that it is positioning to compete with Apple and Samsung.