With unusual intensity, Huawei launches appeasement messages to the US industry, which it considers collateral victim of the sanctions dictated by the Trump Administration. The 90-day suspension of the blacklist that blocks the supply of components to the Chinese company, harmful and even counterproductive, its spokesmen recognize, is about to expire. While breastfeeding ("the United States Government has underestimated Huawei by believing that with restrictions it would collapse the company"), it ensures that it meets its customers.
But it is necessary to find a way out that does not depend on the conversations between the two governments. Therefore, Huawei suggests that it would make available to its industry adversaries a portfolio of patents related to 5G technology. The gesture needs to be specified, with which the company seeks to dismantle the accusations against it, which it rejects as "totally false and politically motivated."
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“What happened has made us change; Now we are more transparent, but without letting ourselves be overwhelmed ”
These are phrases from a conversation of the Money supplement of La Vanguardia with the executive president of its Spanish subsidiary, Tony Jin Yong. This echoed what was said days earlier by the company's founder, Ren Zhengfei, in two interviews with other media outlets, The New York Times and The Economist. At the beginning of 2019, the until then almost invisible Ren warned that the conflict triggered by Donald Trump would cause in two years a decrease in his income that he estimated at 30,000 million dollars. Tony Jin Yong points out: "Now we are much less pessimistic." The growth, which was estimated at 30% less than in 2018, until August had fallen to 23%. Therefore, there is still growth, but slowed down, said the interviewee.
It was later extended about an offer that no one has yet collected. "Our contribution to the definition of the 5G standards (…) is more than 20% of the so-called essential patents are from Huawei." This intellectual property is crucial to accelerate the deployment and commissioning of 5G networks. "We believe we have the best technology, and yet, for seven years, US operating companies have been denied the right to use it for the sole reason that we are a Chinese company and therefore suspected of not knowing how many crimes." If asked about the mistakes Huawei has made, it denies the greatest: “Beyond the political interests of the moment, technological competition is historic and healthy; We have nothing to reproach ourselves for being competitive. ”
It does recognize that the company has learned a lesson, the need to be transparent. "In the past, when false accusations appeared here and there, we were silent, convinced that the facts would speak for themselves (…) Circumstances have not changed attitudes, we are more transparent, always being clear that we will not be overwhelmed" , He says.
Huawei store in Beijing, China
(Mark Schiefelbein / AP)
Has Huawei's business declined accordingly? In relations with operators, nothing or almost nothing: “We continue to supply and equip equipment normally for our clients' networks. Nor will there be disruption if the Administration reinstates the blacklist that blocks the supply of components to US companies ”because Huawei has accelerated the development of its own alternatives. Nor does it see problems in the most recent of the business lines, IT solutions for companies.
The most delicate point, he says, is the smartphone market. Although the share lost in Western markets has been offset in China, where the share has reached 36% (according to IDC, in the global market it is currently 17%). In the latest smartphone model presented, it has not been authorized to install the applications attached to the Android operating system, which undoubtedly weakens its attraction to the consumer. Huawei has reacted by accelerating the development of its own system, Harmony, originally designed for other devices and adapted for use in smartphones. It has also launched a campaign to attract application developers to cover that gap that nobody knows how long it will last.
Next January, the third European Blockchain Convention (EBC) will be held in Barcelona, a meeting that brings together the main protagonists of this disruptive technology: corporations, investors, start-ups, governments and developers. This new edition of the event will be held at the Hesperia Barcelona Tower hotel on January 20. The convention is expected to bring together more than 600 attendees and have the presentations of more than 50 experts.
