Huawei moves into smart vehicles as US sanctions stymie 5G and semiconductor ambitions
- Huawei’s ambitions became more obvious last November when the company merged its smart vehicle business into the consumer segment that handles smartphones
- The telecoms specialist is up against fierce competition from rival Chinese tech giants eyeing the same opportunity in smart vehicles and autonomous driving
Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co, facing US sanctions that have hobbled its core networking business, is targeting the new growth area of smart vehicles, setting the goal of “bringing the digital world to every car”.
Huawei’s move into the smart vehicle industry has created a stir in a sector that Beijing is pushing amid ongoing US-China tech tensions. While some believe Huawei’s participation could lead to technology breakthroughs that accelerate the roll-out of autonomous cars and other types of smart vehicles, some are concerned that the telecoms giant will build a dominant position and squeeze out smaller players.
Shenzhen-based Huawei’s semi-stealth approach in revealing its smart vehicle ambitions comes as its core business of telecommunications and smartphones is hurting badly under US sanctions that have blocked the company from acquiring key software and components since 2019.
Huawei’s ambitions in the new area became more obvious last November when the company merged its smart vehicle business into the consumer segment under the leadership of Richard Yu Chengdong, the architect of Huawei’s rise as a global smartphone leader over the past two decades.
The move has industry watchers and analysts speculating whether the company wants to replicate its success in smartphones and make smart vehicles a much bigger contributor to group revenue in future.
“The smart vehicle business is Huawei’s new business … We have sufficient strategic patience to invest in the sector and there is no profitability requirement in the short term,” a Huawei spokesman told the Post.