SHENZHEN, China, July 12 (Reuters) – China’s Huawei Technologies is plotting a return to the 5G smartphone industry by the end of this year, according to research firms, signalling a comeback after a U.S. ban on equipment sales decimated its consumer electronics business.

Huawei should be able to procure 5G chips domestically using its own advances in semiconductor design tools along with chipmaking from Semiconductor Manufacturing International Co (SMIC), three third-party technology research firms covering China’s smartphone sector told Reuters.

The firms, citing industry sources including Huawei suppliers, spoke on condition of anonymity because of confidentiality agreements with clients.

Huawei declined to comment. SMIC did not respond to a request for comment.

A return to the 5G phone market would mark a victory for the company that for almost three years said it was in “survival” mode. Huawei’s consumer business revenue peaked at 483 billion yuan ($67 billion) in 2020, before plummeting by almost 50% a year later.

The Shenzhen-based tech giant once vied with Apple (AAPL.O) and Samsung (005930.KS) to be the world’s biggest handset maker until rounds of U.S. restrictions beginning in 2019 cut its access to chipmaking tools essential for producing its most advanced models.

The U.S. and European governments have labelled Huawei a security risk, a charge the company denies. Since then, Huawei has only sold limited batches of 5G models using stockpiled chips.

Stuck selling last-generation 4G handsets, Huawei fell from most rankings worldwide