Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH – The upcoming Huawei Mate 10 smartphone could become the best smartphone of the year, a Huawei executive expressed confidently ahead of the launch that is scheduled next month.

Reports around the world recently ranked Huawei as the second largest smartphone maker in the world after it surpassed giant competitors in sales this year.

Huawei Consumer Business Group, the home of Huawei’s smartphones, tablets, wearables and PCs, reported that its revenue in the first half of 2017 increased by 36.2% year-over-year, totaling around $15.6 billion. It shipped 73.01 million smartphone units, which is a 20.6% increase from the same period last year.

The new device uses the newest company-designed chipset Kirin 970, a mobile artificial intelligence computing platform that runs on a Neural Processing Unit (NPU), that performs 25 times more with 50 times more efficiency and is the first in the world.

A heavy investment in innovation is the main factor driving the company’s growth, said Gene Jiao, president of Huawei Consumer Business Group of the Middle East and Africa.

“Huawei has the third largest R&D investment fund among all industries in the world,” he said in an interview with Saudi Gazette.

Last year, the Chinese giant spent $11 billion on R&D, 10% of the annual revenue.

Artificial intelligence gives many possibilities to people’s daily lives, said Jiao, referring to the speed of transaction, translation, and a more enjoyable experience in sharing content.

“Smart devices are becoming an organ, a part of your body already,” he adds. “It will bring us a lot of possibilities from imagination to reality.”

A new smart watch for kids will soon be introduced to offer an efficient way for parents to communicate with kids for safety reasons.

Jiao is not fully satisfied about ranking second in smartphones globally. “The solid numbers have proven that we’re on the right direction and doing well,” he said. “However, the journey for us just started. We’re still not number 1 in value, profit and other areas.”

The market share in Saudi Arabia is 17.3%, including other products such as laptops.

One challenge for Huawei is in marketing itself. “We’re still trying to communicate with the local consumer,” Jiao pointed out. “Huawei is a reliable and innovative brand. This is the message we want to deliver.”

Their brand image has not reached as many consumers as they had hoped despite exceptional customer service such as fixing their high-end phones free of charge if the screen breaks.

Incorporating more Saudis in their team will help achieve more brand awareness, Huawei officials believe. The company is working with government bodies such as the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) to train Saudis in the telecom sector.

Also, a Huawei store will soon open in the Kingdom to boost its image.