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“Next year we will be very close to number one, maybe we will be tied to Samsung. And at least next year, maybe we will have a chance (of being number one),” said Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s consumer division. , for CNBC in an exclusive interview.
Huawei talks about foldable phones, 5G technology and augmented reality glasses. But it hasn’t always been a world-class company. In fact, Huawei didn’t even have a smartphone of its own until 2010, three years after Apple debuted its first iPhone.
The company has become one of the largest technology companies in China due to the growth of mobile network equipment and is now one of the largest suppliers in the world for this market. He was also an original design manufacturer (ODM), which meant he designed and manufactured devices for other companies.
Innovation has been the key to Huawei’s rise
In 2010 Huawei launched its first smartphone called IDEOS, with the Google Android operating system and costs around 60 euros. Eight years later, the company launches phones with original AI and premium features, priced at over $ 1,000.
The transition from an ODM company to today’s giant was implemented by Richard Yu, who previously worked in Huawei’s business-to-business (B2B) division and became the group’s CEO for the consumer division in 2012. Over time, Several market trends led Yu to see Huawei’s potential in the phone market, including the shift from feature phones to smartphones and the arrival of 4G mobile Internet.
He decided that Huawei would stop making classic phones and focus on high-end smartphones with more powerful batteries and bigger screens, which is exactly what consumers are demanding.
The CEO says he likes to take risks, which has helped Huawei grow rapidly.
“I encourage the team to have this ability to innovate, to make bold innovations, to do something that some people would say a little crazy, to challenge ourselves and the industry,” Yu told CNBC.
Future projects
For Yu, artificial intelligence (AI) will be a key technology that will take smartphones to the next level and help the company grow in the future.
“Artificial intelligence will come. Artificial intelligence will be the engine of all future services and it will be elementary to work on multiple devices, connect all applications. The biggest change in the next ten years will be the capabilities of AI AI phones.” Yu said.
Huawei is currently working on a foldable phone, which will debut next year and will be the company’s first 5G-capable phone. Yu also said augmented reality (AR) glasses are also in the factory. These new technologies could provide a growth engine for Huawei in the future.
For his part, Samsung CEO DJ Koh told CNBC in a September interview that the company is changing its strategy for mid-range smartphones to bring more innovative features to its phones at lower prices, a move that could help mitigate Huawei’s threat. This strategy was seen in the Galaxy A9, the world’s first smartphone with a quad camera, launched in October.
And Samsung won’t be easy to beat. According to data from Counterpoint Research, it has fallen from the top position in the smartphone market three times in the past five years, usually by only a quarter.
Neil Shah, director of research at Counterpoint, estimates that Huawei would have to sell between 30 and 40 million more smartphones per quarter to surpass Samsung.
But Shah said Samsung’s sales could decline due to stiff competition, which could help Huawei become number one.
Yu’s ambitions are bigger than smartphones. They want Huawei to start developing new products, such as smart laptops and speakers. Yu aims to create an ecosystem of smart devices.
“We want to take a leadership role over the next ten years to become an integrated solution for smart living,” Yu told CNBC.
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