Huawei has plans to take over the world…well overtake Apple and Samsung anyway

In the grand scheme of things, China is the market to watch. Taking aside any issues, advantages or disadvantages, the world’s largest nation is also one of the fastest growing emerging markets.

Huawei is a giant in its own right, the number 2 telecom equipment manufacturer in the world (behind Ericsson). That makes it a critical component to what makes the internet work. The company has also been making strong inroads in the mobile communication space. Huawei made an impressive showing at CES 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada in January, introducing the high-end Huawei Ascend D2 Android smartphone, and the 6.1-inch screen Ascend Mate. At MWC 2013, the manufacturer earned some more press with the announcement of the Ascend P2, another high-end device, dubbed the "world's fastest smartphone" to take on established competitors around the world.

However, Huawei is not just going to throw product out there and see what will stick. A company with the resources like this has a plan. The division that is making these impressive new devices is Huawei Devices, headed by a gentleman by the name of Wan Biao. He has his sights set squarely on Samsung and Apple.

The company is one year into a five year transformation strategy, and this company does need to transform. Huawei is mired in controversy related to the security and integrity of its products. Some investigations have led many to suspect the company is an active partner in assisting the Chinese government spy on foreign entities.

Huawei has enough of an image problem that companies in the US are actively discouraged from doing business with it, and the company is not allowed to bid on government contracts in the US, Australia or New Zealand. The company claims that it is “employee owned,” an odd annotation in a communist state with selectively capitalistic economic policies and where privacy is not the primary concern of the state.

Wan Biao sees the consumer as the way to clean the brand image for Huawei. He is also confident and clever. When asked if Huawei can really reach the ranks of companies like Apple and Samsung, his response was, “I can’t predict who the other two will be.” Wan is executing this plan now, aiming at the high end segment.

“Our philosophy is that , within any one price segment, Huawei’s the best one. And in the price segment of iPhone, second half of this year, we have a new flagship, targeted at the higher end,” according to Wan. That corresponds to being about 18 months into the aforementioned five year transformation. That seems like an overly aggressive, overly optimistic plan, but Huawei does have an advantage.

“Why can we have these kind of technologies? Because we come from the network side. When we develop our network side, we develop our chip set alongside it. No one else can do that; only Huawei can do that. Samsung can’t do that. And we have 10,000 research and development engineers developing radio technologies. Samsung has the technology of the display. Huawei has telecommunications.”

And that right there says a lot. Moreover, Huawei has 45,000 software engineers. Huawei is focused on Android, but is also working with Windows Phone. The sales of the Ascend W1 have been good, and the company believes that consumers will like it.

The image can be polished up by good deeds and great marketing. The products are arguably already there to compete on a global scale. “We’re one year in to a transformation. We are on the way to being a top-three consumer brand.”

source: Business Insider