Huawei positive about future after winning key 5G deals

Caught in the crossfire of global geopolitics, Huawei on Thursday said things have started looking up for the company with the signing of key 5G deals in the UK and Russia and added that it is "positive" about the future.

The world's second-biggest smartphone seller, which shipped over 205 million units in 2018, also clarified that WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and all other such apps will continue to work on the devices as they used to.

"All these are third-party applications, and can be installed and used without any issue on Huawei devices," a company spokesperson said.

Huawei took solace from the fact that amid all the brouhaha, British telecom giant EE launched the country's first high-speed 5G network in partnership with the world's biggest telecom equipment supplier. It also signed a 5G development deal with MTS, Russia's biggest mobile operator. Spain also became one of the first countries in Europe to commercially roll-out the 5G network in cooperation with Huawei.

"Huawei is a global tech behemoth that has aggressively developed technological capabilities. On the back of its technical leadership in 5G, Huawei has been successful in forging partnerships with many nations globally," said Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group, CyberMedia Research (CMR).

Despite all the controversies, it is interesting to note that Huawei is still manufacturing circuit boards for UK Defence's F-35 fighter jets, rubbishing the China-spying narrative.

Huawei said that it also has amicable relationships with many US based companies and partners. Huawei is the second largest company utilising Google's Android platform and covers 470 million customers worldwide, with their entire portfolio of products and services.

Additionally, most of the companies that provide consulting services to Huawei are based out of the US, including IBM and Accenture.

"While Huawei has seen a lot of ups and downs over the past few months, I believe the last word is yet to be written on its future. Recent developments, such as reinstating Huawei's Mate 20 in the Android Q Beta list, and Google expressing its solidarity with the brand underline that there is a promising silver lining to the dark clouds," Ram said.

"Potentially lifting of the ban on Huawei will prove beneficial for the future of the entire tech ecosystem, and not just Huawei," he added.

The company also boasts of strong partnerships with US tech giants such as Intel, Qualcomm and many other component original equipment manufacturers and also India based vendors such as Poorvika, Amazon India, Croma, Leica among others.

"We will continue to protect the interest of customers, maintain order in the market and ensure healthy development of the industry," a Huawei spokesperson said.

Last year, Huawei's R&D investment surpassed 14 billion dollars, ranking fifth globally in the 2018 EU Industrial R&D investment scoreboard.