Customers look at products in an Apple store in Beijing on December 11, 2018. Greg Baker | AFP | Getty Images

Huawei is winning over more and more Apple fans in China as the escalated trade tensions have stoked "nationalist sentiment," according to the South China Morning Post. China's consumers are increasingly favoring their domestic brands after the U.S. stepped up its action against Huawei, the paper said. The article cited a few anecdotes where people switched to Huawei smartphones from their beloved iPhones to show their support for the country and Chinese brands.

"It's kind of embarrassing to pull an iPhone out of your pocket nowadays when all the company executives use Huawei," Sam Li, who works at a state-owned telecom company in Beijing, told the South China Morning Post. He added his company offers employees a Huawei discount. The nationalist rhetoric has gotten louder in China after President Donald Trump blacklisted Huawei, effectively halting its ability to buy American-made parts and components. Comments like "support Huawei" and "hang in there" have become increasingly popular on Chinese social media platforms and some people said Google's decision to cut ties with Huawei is like "cutting the ground from under one's foot," according to the Hong Kong-based newspaper.