US authorities have launched a series of investigations and issued bans on Huawei and ZTE products in recent years.

Founded in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, in the 1980s, Huawei and ZTE have become leading telecom equipment suppliers competing in the world's top league and rivaling major companies such as Telefon AB LM Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Siemens Networks.

The two companies have also emerged as global top-level mobile phone makers.

The latest investigation may pose a significant challenge to Huawei and ZTE, which rely heavily on their terminal businesses in the US, analysts said.

Yang Haifeng, a telecom expert who is also chief editor of Communications World Weekly, said the US market is one of the world's biggest consumer electronics markets.

"Because of political concerns, the US government has restricted Huawei and ZTE from entering the telecom infrastructure market, so their terminal businesses have gradually played a more important role for the companies," Yang said.

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