Chairman: Huawei is in 'battle for survival'

Huawei Technologies is in a “battle for survival” in the face of a US crackdown, the company’s rotating chairman Guo Ping told a conference in Shanghai on Wednesday. 

The company is still seeking opportunities in the five tech domains of connectivity, cloud, artificial intelligence, computing and industry applications, Guo said. 

Connectivity, computing, the cloud, and AI are a lot like electricity 100 years ago, according to Huawei, whereas industry applications are like home appliances and industrial equipment powered by electricity.

As more governments and enterprises go digital and embrace intelligence, the ICT sector will see incredible potential for growth. Huawei is willing to create new value with synergy across the five domains, Guo said at  Huawei Connect 2020.

But the company’s priority target is to “battle for survival” in the face of the US crackdown on tech exports, Guo said.

In August, the Trump administration announced further tightening of restrictions on Huawei, expanding those announced in May. They prevent Huawei from obtaining semiconductors without a special license or produced with US software or technology. Huawei has been forced to stop producing Kirin chips for smartphones since September 15.

But firms such as Intel and Qualcomm may supply chips for Huawei in the future, according to media reports.

Huawei is willing to adopt chips from US firms such as Qualcomm if it’s approved, Huawei’s executives said during a Q&A session.

Huawei also announced plans and investment to develop in the five tech domains by joining with partners and suppliers to create new values in the digital age. 

In the cloud service market, Huawei has offered the cloud in 23 regions and countries worldwide, attracting over 1.5 million developers. In the AI sector, Huawei aims to better integrate AI into the major business systems of governments and enterprises, using know-how and data to build the core competency of AI systems.