conquering the world, one step at a time

FOR most of us, the company’s name may be difficult to pronounce. But it’s not stopping China’s Huawei from aiming for the No. 1 spot in the smartphone business currently dominated by Apple with its iPhone and the gaggle of high-profile tech companies behind the mobile OS juggernaut that is Android from Google.

Mirroring the Chinese economy’s breathtaking ascent into the big league in the global stage, Huawei Device Co. Ltd. is currently ranked No. 3 in global smartphone shipments, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, just three years after the firm embarked on the smartphone business.

“It’s a long way to go [before we become a leading smartphone maker],” said Shao Yang, vice president for marketing for Huawei Device, during a recent news briefing at the company’s sprawling headquarters in Shenzhen, China. “There is no exact timetable, but that’s our target.”

Aiming for the No. 1 position has always been Huawei’s goal since he joined the firm in 1998, Shao said. “When I first joined [the company], we thought it was mission impossible,” he admitted with candor.

Slowly, aided by its aim of enriching people’s lives through telecommunications and its persistent drive at innovation, Huawei overcame the obstacles on its way to conquer the world.

Look at where it is now and be amazed by what it has attained. Twenty-six years after it was founded by Ren Zhangfie, a former engineer in the Chinese military, Huawei has achieved a number of milestones that its peers can only dream of:

It is now the largest telecommunications equipment maker in the world, having overtaken Ericsson in 2012.

As of end-2012, Huawei’s products are deployed in over 140 countries in the world, serving more than one-third of the world’s population.

In July this year, it launched the world’s thinnest smartphone, the Ascend P6, which boasts of a 6.18mm ultra-slim design and a 4.7-inch screen.

THE HUAWEI EXPERIENCE

To reach its goal of becoming the top smartphone maker in the world, as well as delivering quality and value-for-money products to consumers worldwide, Huawei is focusing on three key areas: innovation, achievable premium and quality, Shao said.

“We are building our brand through three keywords. First is innovation. We want to be different. People want a new experience, so we try to come up with something new as often as possible. Next is achievable premium. We will produce premium phones but not at very high prices. People can buy good products at good prices,” Shao said.

“Finally, quality. We are a very serious technology company. We want to keep our high quality in serving the people’s telecommunication needs.”

Obviously, research and development plays a major role in coming up with new products that will win over customers worldwide. The company has 20 R&D centers around the world including those in China, the US, Germany, Sweden and Russia. Of its 140,000 employees, around 46 percent are engaged in R&D.

Currently, Huawei has four smartphone series in the market, products of intense R&D efforts: the Diamond (D) series, Platinum (P) series, Gold (G) series, and, the Youth (Y) series. Of the four, the G series is so far the most popular, accounting for about 44 percent of total smartphone sales, followed by the Y series at 40 percent. The D and P series have a combined 16 percent share, Shao said. The G series includes the recently introduced Ascend G610 dual-SIM, dual standby handset that also supports 3G. The phone features a 5-inch IPS QHD display and powered by a quad-core 1.2GHz processor. It also packs a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash.

The Y series, on the other hand, includes the Ascend Y320, embedded with 4.0-inch display, a 1.3GHz dual-core processor and coupled with the latest Android 4.2 operating system. Then there is the Y220 handset that sports a 3.5-inch touchscreen HVGA with a resolution of 320x480 pixels and a 1GHz dual-core processor, and complemented by 256MB RAM.

Incidentally, the G610 is already available in the Philippine market, while the Y320 and the Y220 are soon to be launched locally, just in time for Christmas.

Not quite surprising, China is Huawei’s biggest market. However, it is slowly making inroads overseas. Outside of China, its biggest markets include West Europe, Japan and the United States.

With its burning desire to set the world market on fire, it won’t be a surprise when everyone in the planet will be able to pronounce the brand’s name with ease: hwa-way.