Huawei has landed
Thalefang Charles | Friday June 24, 2016 16:14
Hardly a year ago many people did not know anything about Huawei, let alone pronounce the name Huawei. Today while many still battle with the pronunciation, most people use or know someone who is using a Huawei product. Huawei says that is just the beginning as this Chinese brand is determined for global domination, just like the country itself.
Chinese products have a notorious reputation to be substandard quality that cannot be trusted. Many fake and cheap products have been dumped in Africa that “buying from the Chinese” means buying a fake or substandard product colloquially called “Fong Kong” since the 1999 hit song by South Africa’s Kwaito star, Senyaka.
Although throughout southern Africa the Chinese cheap products have helped to cloth the poor communities, get school kids cheap school shoes and helped restore the dignity of elders with colourful affordable clothes, they have been considered uncool and looked down upon. “Made in China” or even China as a whole has become synonymous with bad substandard products.
Amid all these negative stereotypes developed throughout the years by disappointed customers, enters Huawei, a complete Chinese brand with a Chinese name, with their ambitious plan to develop products that will change the way the world looks at China.
Huawei Technologies Ltd Co. is not new in the telecommunications business – they are actually the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer in the world, having overtaken Ericsson in 2012. They have recently shifted their business model from just being a business-to-business organisation to selling directly to customers with a wide range of products.
The company used to be focused on building telecommunications networks and services as well as providing equipment, software and services to enterprise customers. Huawei has built telecommunications networks of over 80 percent of the world’s top 50 telecommunications companies.
With its relatively new core business segment, which is the Huawei Devices, where they are manufacturing electronic communications devices including smartphones, tablet computers, smart watches, modems and other home electronic appliances, Huawei aims to be the global dealer in the industry.
Mmegi had an interview with Huawei director for global public relations, Ada Xu at the organisation’s headquarters in the city of Shenzhen, Guangdong, China on their ambitious plan they termed “global innovation hive”.
Xu says Huawei is not actually the new kid on the block saying, “we have been in the telecommunications business for years.
“Huawei’s strength is the unique management structure where we have three chief executive officers (CEOs), namely Hu Houkun, Xu Zhijun, and Guo Ping rotating on six-months basis,” said Xu.
This means every six months a new driver gets on to lead innovation in the giant telecom company. On top of the rotating CEOs there is Ren Zhengfei, Huawei founder who set up the company in 1987. He has veto powers and he spends a lot of time mentoring the top three executives.
Apparently this innovative leadership structure that was adopted in 2011 was inspired by a book on business leadership called Flight of the Buffalo, written by James Belasco and Ralph Stayer. According to Belasco and Stayer, this story represents the traditional leadership style where one leader gives direction and therefore becomes indispensable, creating a situation where followers will not know what to do if the leader is no longer present.
Xu says Huawei is spending 10 percent of their annual sales revenue on research and development (R&D). This substantial investment has seen the company developing products that have catapulted the company into the list of Top 100 Global Brands by Interbrand.
Ownership of Huawei, which is said to be 99 percent owned by employees, is also regarded as the strength by the Chinese giant.
Xu says they understand their challenges which involve their strategic shift from being a business to business (B to B) to business to customer (B to C) orientated organisation.
Huawei says they are aware of their brand image that comes tainted with Chinese brand of substandard and that is why they prove their worth.
The company last year shocked smartphone industry with their new P8, and Mate8 smartphones that were launched in London. Huawei returned to London again in 2016 with yet another high-end smartphone boasting of new revolutionary technology, the P9.
They have entered into strategic partnerships with a number of key manufacturers. They teamed up with camera lens maker Leica in their new flagship smartphone P9 and are also on design partnership with Swarovski AG to create the Huawei Watch for ladies. Huawei also entered into a partnership with Harman/Kardon (audio speakers maker) for the M2 Tablet.
Recently Huawei has been on aggressive marketing campaign where they are branding world stars and sponsoring athletes and global sport teams. They have raised their brand in leading football leagues from English Premier League where they sponsor Asernal, to German’s Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund, Spain with Rayo Vallecano, France with Paris Saint-Germain, and even in Africa where they are sponsoring PSL’s Ajax Cape Town.
In March 2016 they snatched the football icon Lionel Messi to be the Huawei’s global brand ambassador in a deal that has been reported to be in the region of US$6million.
Huawei did not just stop with football, they branded cricket in India and are now aggressively brand leveraging with top fashion designers for their flagship smartphones and watches.
Huawei is so determined in their world domination that they even invited world media to come to China and tour their Shenzhen headquarters in a charm offensive that the company hopes will improve the brand leverage of Huawei. Journalists were led on a tour of the factories and development sites where the company produces leading technological products.
It was just three years ago when Huawei revealed their plan to overtake Apple and Samsung in the global smartphone market share and just like their slogan, “Make It Possible”, if what just happened in China, where they took over the Apple crown is anything to go by, Huawei has landed.