Huawei wants to replace pig farming with lost smartphone sales

Huawei should have been the best smartphone maker in the world last year. The company had a plan to take first place by 2021, and despite losing access to its US suppliers (including Google) in 2019, the company was the largest smartphone maker in the world against Samsung and Apple. But then the other shoe dropped. Exactly one year on the day the U.S. Department of Commerce placed Huawei on the list of entities that had to force the Chinese firm to stop doing business with the United States, the United States made an export rule change. Suddenly, the use of American techniques was no longer allowed to ship to Huawei without a license.

Huawei turns to other businesses to make up for loss of smartphone sales

It was impossible to get the latest chipset for his phones and 5G base stations. In an ironic twist, even chips designed by Huawei were not restricted, and the firm’s smartphone sales fell 42% during the fourth quarter when the ban began. The US considered Huawei, ZTE and some other Chinese companies as national security threats due to the alleged ties with the Communist Chinese government.

In November Huawei has sold its Honor sub-brand so that the latter is not prohibited from acquiring chips and US components due to the association with Huawei. The $ 15 billion Huawei received in the sale was definitely needed and now the company can become the seventh largest smartphone maker this year. The BBC says Huawei’s smartphone production could drop by 60% this year, although the company could not confirm the figure. A Huawei spokesman said: “The problem here is not as if there are any issues with our quality or experiences of the Huawei products. This is not an equal playing field for Huawei, as Huawei is caught between the geopolitical tensions. ‘

The company is looking for other income that has led it to pig farming. That’s right, Huawei, the company behind one of the most technologically advanced smartphone lines in the world, is dealing with pigs. It is a major industry in China where 50% of the world’s live pigs are located. Huawei is actually bringing technology to the industry with face recognition used to identify individual pigs. Farms use other technology to monitor pigs’ diet, weight and exercise. A Huawei spokesman, who discussed the entry into the technology business’s pig farm, said: “Pig farming is another example of how we are trying to revive some traditional ICT (information and communication technology) technology industries for more value to create for the industries in the 5G era. ‘

In addition to pig farming, Huawei also wants to start in the mining industry. The company’s founder and CEO, Ren Zhengfei, set up a mining lab earlier this month. Using Huawei technology, Ren wants to turn miners into white-collar workers so they can wear suits and ties to work. With the company’s technology, the mining industry will see ‘fewer employees, greater safety and higher efficiency’. The CEO added that Huawei will expand its television, tablet and computer lines. This is important because Ren does not see the US removing his company from the list of entities. Nevertheless, he states that “we can still survive without relying on telephone sales.” And even though the company is looking at new sources to bring in revenue, it has not given up the phone business. Huawei is expected to continue releasing its two flagship models, the P50 and the Mate 50 rules, this year. The company is expected to use its own HarmonyOS for both models.

While Huawei may lose market share in smartphones, it still remains the best provider of network equipment in the world. Still, Huawei needs to be careful about how it goes. After all, it has long been said on Wall Street: “Bears make money, bulls make money and pigs are slaughtered.”

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