Huawei, the Chinese network and consumer electronics manufacturer doesn’t have it easy coming for them, for one part, half the world shuns them amidst regulatory, cyber espionage and racketeering charges, for another, Mainland’s China roll out got hit severely by the complications arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, and last, but not least: European 5G network manufacturers see a big boost in sales as they are tasked with setting up networks in influential markets like Singapore, Russia and the UK. Huawei’s short presentation at IFA Berlin 2020 showcased the line up of consumer electronics that Huawei has in store for the European market as well as stressing the importance of their foothold in that continent as many network carriers shun the company amidst the fear that local governments might force them to trash their costly 5G investments. Their keynote, titled Huawei’s Commitment to Innovation Through Our Seamless AI Life Strategy, Commitment to European Operations and Customers showcased their three-pronged strategy for the development of their business as tough times face ahead for the Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer.
Walter Ji, Huawei’s topman spent a good amount of time explaining what everyone in the tech business knows: Coronavirus changed the way in which humans interact with technology, and each other. Still, he did so in a very nuanced way, by pointing out that nowadays we rely more on our phone and mobile communications. Then, he pointed out that Huawei was instrumental for communications between hospitals in Italy, one of the countries that got hit the worst by the pandemic.
1+8+N Strategy: Seamless Internet of Things + AI
The 1+8+N strategy is Huawei’s approach to IoT life: Smartphones, smart devices created by Huawei and third-party products will work seamlessly together with Huawei’s signature Huawei Share and HiLink technological platforms. This strategy is part of the tech trend that pretends to create always-on, always-connected devices that use many technological features like the Kirin 9905G chipset, and the 100X Leica Zoom Camera.
Walter Ji showcased the array of products in Huawei’s consumer electronics: The Huawei GT2 Watch, the MateBook X Pro laptop, the FreeBuds 3 wireless ear pods, the Sound X Speaker, and the MatePad Pro tablet. All these devices will sing in an invisible IoT+AI+5G symphony orchestrated by Huawei’s HiLink Ecosystem that allows AI to seamlessly integrate with over 800 partners in 100 different categories of consumer electronics.
Huawei invested $82 Billion US dollars in the last decade —which include a complex bribe scheme to blatantly steal western intellectual property— putting them among the top industrial research and development-oriented firms in the world, as the company boasted about its global presence, vast R&D parks and laboratories both in Mainland China and in Europe, as they focused during their conference, stressing that its European technology and European workforce moves them in their direction to commit to users.
Mobile Services Ecosystem
Maybe one of Huawei’s most ambitious projects is the Mobile Services Ecosystem, as it plans to unleash the value of the new technologies they will develop under their 1+8+N strategy. The App Gallery, created under their Mobile Services Ecosystem now sits comfortably at the number three spot of mobile devices in the world, only bested by Google and Apple. Nearly 460 million users worldwide use Huawei’s App Gallery and the keynote presentation delivered at Berlin IFA 2020 showed some testimony from developers.
