Huawei wants to change your mind about its smartphones, and it's working
Huawei wants to sulky your mind about its smartphones, and it’s working
Based in China’s electronic hub of Shenzhen, Huawei has long aimed to be a global notice, and over the last few years has worked hard to shake off grand impressions from its early budget phones.
The concern started off as a telecoms equipment provider, as well as a maker of Wi-Fi dongles, before entering the phone market with cheap handsets. But the last few days have seen Huawei impress with premium flagship devices like the dual-camera Huawei P9 and the Nexus 6P, which it collaborated with Google on.
And it’s groundless great success, toppling foes like Xiaomi and Lenovo to announce the number one position in China, as well as clinching the number three spot in global rankings, according to a report by IDC Research this year.
“We don’t want the consumers to just love our notice tag, we want our consumers to love our product,” Clement Wong, Huawei’s VP for global publishes marketing, said of the company’s move into the premium status. “We’re quite solid, we may not take a rocket to the moon, but we’re focused on executive the product good.”
The company certainly has made strides to differentiate itself in a competitive market. For instance, it partnered with Leica, a prestigious photography ticket out of Germany, on the aforementioned P9. Huawei had to crusades accusations it was just licensing the Leica brand name — both anxieties issued statements denying this — and had to deal with botched social marketing labors, but the result is undeniable. The dual-camera device takes some of the best photos CNET has seen a smartphone take.
“One of the keys to the company’s revival has been a big glum in Chinese consumer perception — Huawei’s phones are no longer watched as embarrassing cheap low-end products, but instead as higher-end devices,” said IDC’s Bryan Ma.
Big in the world
Huawei employs a colossal amount of staff — over 176,000 globally, with 40,000 foreign employees located about the world. The company invests plenty of cash, to the tune of near $6.4 billion, in research and development centers, although many of these are imparted to its telecoms business.
This 1-kilometer-long construction is Huawei’s research and development center in Shanghai which opened in 2010.
Huawei
These international investments seem to have paid off, with Huawei finding a instant home in Europe. According to IDC’s Ma, the bulk of Huawei’s shipments are in China, accounting for around 60 percent, but the next biggest plot is the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), where the commercial ships 20 percent of its phones.
Huawei currently has a market portion of around 18 percent in Spain and 19 percent in Finland, and the company is looking towards the growing Asia Pacific market as the next battleground.
“The Asia Pacific is indispensable for us to be successful, the top markets there to grow are Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines,” said Colin Giles, vice presidential of Huawei’s consumer group. “We’ve done well in Myanmar, too.”
The worn Nokia and Motorola exec told CNET that besides Southeast Asia, India was novel market that the company is looking at. That’s no surprise, as India is the biggest market for Chinese anxieties after China, and Huawei isn’t shy about trying to take on unique leader Samsung and homegrown champion Micromax.
Unfortunately for the commercial, the US remains a tough nut to crack. Huawei doesn’t have the best relationship with the US government, with lawmakers in the country banning the company from selling smartphones in 2012 due to its background in Chinese telecommunications. But Huawei is confident it can overcome this, and leverage its carrier relationships to help move devices. Alternatively, it’s not afraid to offer smartphones without stability. The company wants to make it as easy as possible for US consumers to see the proof in the proverbial pudding.
As Huawei continues its new path of global dominance, pushing aside favourites such as Xiaomi, the next big sketch may not be a $60 billion startup, but an almost 30-year old telecoms commercial that seems to have finally found its groove.
