TheNewsGuru

Tag: Huawei

  • Despite crackdown, Huawei ships record smartphones in 2018

    Despite crackdown by governments, Huawei, dubbed the world’s largest supplier of telecommunications gear, shipped a record number of smartphones in 2018.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Huawei announced on Sunday it shipped more smartphones than it ever has, with its 2018 shipments exceeding 200 million devices.

    The Chinese firm said its phone shipments increased more than 30 percent from last year.

    “In the global smartphone market, Huawei has gone from being dismissed as a statistical ‘other’ to ranking among the Top 3 players in the world,” Huawei said in a statement.

    Earlier this year, Huawei topped Apple in the number of smartphone units shipped, and ranks behind only one other company, Samsung.

    The announcement of record-setting phone sales arrives amid increasing tensions between the company and the US government and its allies.

    Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, was arrested in Canada this month at the request of the US government for allegedly committing fraud to evade sanctions on Iran.

    Beijing has pushed for her release and suggested that her arrest was part of a US effort to gain an advantage in its ongoing trade battles with China.

    Several US allies have followed the President Donald Trump administration in largely barring the use of Huawei devices.

    They cite a risk that the company’s technology could be used to inform Chinese intelligence officers aiming to spy on or disrupt foreign governments, military agencies and corporations.

    Australia, Britain and New Zealand have joined the US in blocking Huawei from their next-generation 5G mobile network.

    Earlier this month, Japan effectively banned Huawei and another Chinese tech provider, ZTE, from government contracts to prevent potential leaks of sensitive data.

    Huawei and the Chinese government have cast the blacklisting as politically motivated and denied wrongdoing.

    Huawei has posted significant growth even as several governments have moved against it.

    The company said its record-breaking shipments were largely fuelled by the demand for its P20, Honor 10 and Mate 20 smartphones.

    According to November data released by the research firm IDC, Huawei clams more than 14 percent of the global smartphone market, behind Samsung’s 20 percent, which is sliding.

    The company’s head of consumer business has said it’s possible Huawei becomes the world’s top smartphone maker by the end of next year, pointing to strong growth in Europe and China.

     

  • Huawei secures over 25 commercial 5G contracts, to spend $2bn on cyber-security

    Chinese technology giant Huawei Technologies said it has secured more than 25 commercial 5G contracts, the largest in the world, and has shipped more than 10,000 base stations for the fifth generation of mobile communications.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Huawei’s rotating chairman, Ken Hu made this known while speaking at a press conference at the company’s headquarters in Shenzhen on Tuesday, saying the company expects revenue to exceed $100 billion this year, as against revenue of $92 billion in 2017.

    The Chinese company also said on Tuesday that it would be spending $2 billion over the next 5 years to focus on cybersecurity by adding more people and upgrading lab facilities, as it battles global concerns about risks associated with its network gear.

    The typically secretive Chinese technology giant made the comments at one of its most in-depth press conferences at its Dongguan offices, after welcoming about two dozen international journalists into its new campus in the southern Chinese city.

    Huawei has been in the news these past weeks for the arrest of its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, daughter of its billionaire founder Ren Zhengfei, in Canada at the request of the United States.

    This has exacerbated the woes of the Chinese firm, which has already been virtually locked out of the US market and has been prohibited by Australia and New Zealand from building 5G networks amid concerns its gear could facilitate Chinese spying.

     

  • Huawei CFO faces extradition to US, after arrest in Canada

    The chief financial officer of China’s Huawei Technologies faces extradition to the United States after she was arrested in Canada, Canadian officials said Wednesday.

    Meng Wanzhou, a senior executive who is also the daughter of the tech giant’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, was arrested in Vancouver on December 1, according to Canada’s Department of Justice.

    A bail hearing has been set for Friday. The department declined to provide other details, citing a publication ban. US Justice Department spokesman Marc Raimondi declined to comment on the matter.

    A spokesman from the Chinese Embassy in Canada confirmed the arrest of Meng and said in a statement that Beijing “strongly protests over such kind of actions which seriously harmed the human rights of the victim.” China has lodged a protest to the United States and Canada, urging them “to immediately correct the wrongdoing,” the spokesman said.

    Meng was arrested when she was transferring flights in Canada, said Huawei spokesman Chasen Skinner.

    “The company has been provided very little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng,” Skinner said. “The company believes the Canadian and US legal systems will ultimately reach a just conclusion.”

    Meng is expected to face charges in the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn.

    US authorities have been investigating Huawei since 2016 for violations of export controls and US sanctions related to Iran and other countries. It is unclear how Huawei might have violated sanctions.

    The arrest comes at a tense moment in US-China relations. Over the past year, China and the United States have engaged in a tit-for-tat trade war that has shaken markets around the world and hurt ties between the world’s two largest economies.

    President Donald Trump last week met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Argentina, hashing out a trade war cease-fire. But just days after they met, Chinese and US officials relayed conflicting details about the deal.

    At the heart of the dispute is a White House claim that China violates the rules of global trade through forced technology transfer and cyberwarfare. There have been growing calls for the United States to increase its scrutiny of Chinese firms, including Huawei, on the grounds of national security.

    US officials have long suspected that Huawei, a major smartphone maker, maintains ties to China’s communist leaders. Ren, Huawei’s founder, is a former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army.

    Last year, Huawei’s chief rival, ZTE, pleaded guilty to violating US sanctions against Iran and North Korea and paid $892 million (roughly Rs. 6,300 crores) in fines imposed by the Justice, Treasury and Commerce departments.

    In April, the Commerce Department found ZTE to be in violation of its 2017 settlement and barred US companies from exporting to the firm for seven years. Such a prohibition, colloquially referred to as a “death penalty,” was thought to be severe enough to put the firm out of business.

    Xi reportedly asked Trump to intervene, and Trump pressed Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to reconsider the punishment. In July, Commerce lifted the ban but imposed a number of new restrictions on the company, including another fine.

    Trump saw his intervention in the ZTE case as a bargaining chip with China on other trade issues.

    ZTE and Huawei equipment have been banned from use by the US government and its contractors after Trump signed into law in August a bill containing the ban.

    The two firms are largely cut out of the US market. In 2012, the House Intelligence Committee issued a scathing report on the two firms that warned that they “provide a wealth of opportunities for Chinese intelligence agencies” to spy on US companies or agencies that use their equipment.

    The panel also urged that the federal government block mergers of US firms with the two Chinese companies after reviewing their alleged ties to Chinese military and intelligence agencies.

    The firms are caught up in a global competition with the United States for control of the world’s burgeoning 5G telecommunications networks.

    On Wednesday, British telecom firm BT has said it will not use Huawei equipment in its 5G network. Last week, New Zealand did the same. In August, Australia banned Huawei and ZTE from its 5G networks.

     

  • Trump’s government persuades allied countries to avoid Huawei

    The President Donald Trump-led US government is persuading allied countries to avoid telecommunications equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Wall Street Journal, in a Thursday news item, cited unnamed sources to have said US officials have reached out to their government counterparts and telecom executives in friendly countries where Huawei equipment is already in wide use about what they see as cyber-security risks.

    Huawei has come under scrutiny in the United States recently.

    Intelligence agency leaders and others have said they are concerned that Huawei and other Chinese companies may be beholden to the Chinese government or ruling Communist Party, raising the risk of espionage.

    Washington has been considering increasing financial aid for telecommunications development in countries that shun Chinese-made equipment, the WSJ reported.

    One of the government’s concerns is based on the use of Chinese telecom equipment in countries that host US military bases, such as Germany, Italy and Japan, the report added.

    A US Department of Commerce spokesman said in a statement that the department would remain vigilant against any threat to US national security.

    Huawei did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

     

  • Huawei donates N100m ICT equipment to DBI

    Huawei, an ICT company, has donated N100million ICT equipment to the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) to boost capacity building.
    Speaking during the ceremony on Wednesday in Abuja, the Administrator of DBI, Mr Ike Adinde said the partnership with Huawei started in 2016.
    He said the equipment donated to DBI would help reshape and redefine the institute’s capacity building process, especially in the area of telecommunications.
    “This partnership will support a number of DBI training programme and help build skills.
    “Equipping this lab would have taken another three years to get there but coming together with a solution provider to build core competencies in a synergistic manner is a milestone.
    On his part, Mr Uwazie Kingsley, Training Director of Huawei said the company’s training centre has been in existence since 2004. To meet the company’s career capacity building requirement.
    Kingsley said that the partnership with DBI started in 2016 and amongst the plans we had was for DBI to utilize Huawei lab.
    He said Huawei, however, believed that there was the need to go a step further, adding that DBI should be equipped to have a lab where trainings can take place.
    “We believe DBI should be equipped to have a lab to carry out its training and this we are experiencing today.
    “And the equipment made available would cover various training need in Information Communications Technology (ICT).
    “We are looking at not just employed Nigerians but we are also looking at trainings that would benefit unemployed Nigerians that would get them ready to move into the ICT.
    Among the equipment donated by Huawei were core network, Transmission and wireless equipment.
     

  • Globacom Nigeria set to disrupt telecoms industry with new Huawei contract

    Telecommunications services provider, Globacom Nigeria on Tuesday signed a major contract that will signal a massive shift in telecoms services delivery in the country.

    TheNewsGuru reports that the Nigerian foremost multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Lagos signed the telecoms-disruptive contract with Huawei.

    The event witnessed the signing of the memorandum of understanding for GLO2 Submarine Cable between Globacom Limited and Huawei Technologies.

    This is coming after Huawei partnered Globacom to successfully complete upgrade of GLO1 terrestrial network in Nigeria and UK.

    GLO1, fully owned by Globacom, has been in operation for 8 years and it is the only cable in Nigeria managed end-to-end from Lagos to London by one company.

    “GLO2 is a quantum leap in building the voice and data communication infrastructure in Nigeria,” Sanjib Roy, Globacom Regional Director, Technical said at the contract-signing ceremony.

    “We have best in-house competences to build new submarine cable: GLO2,” he added.

    GLO2, which will connect Lagos to the oil producing communities of the Niger Delta region, Li Shaowei, Representative for Huawei Technologies said will “modernize and digitize” the technology landscape of the country.

    Speaking at the contract-signing ceremony, Globacom’s Representative, Mr. Folu Aderibigbe said the new cable will usher in a new era in optic fibre marine cable that stretches from Lagos to South-South of Nigeria.

    When completed, GLO2, which will provide data connectivity speed of up to 12TB, is designed for further expansion southwards to Cameroon, Gabon, Angola, and other African countries.

    Present at the signing ceremony are Mrs. Gladys Talabi, Globacom Executive Director, Legal and Peng Shengwen, Huawei Technologies Representative.

     

  • US places trade embargo on Chinese telecom equipment maker

    The US Department of Commerce is placing trade embargo on Chinese telecom equipment maker, ZTE for seven years for violating terms of sanctions violation case.

    US officials made this known on Monday banning American companies from selling components to the Chinese telecom equipment maker.

    TheNewsGuru reports the Chinese company pleaded guilty last year in federal court in Texas for conspiring to violate US sanctions by illegally shipping US goods and technology to Iran.

    It paid $890 million in fines and penalties, with an additional penalty of $300 million that could be imposed.

    As part of the agreement, Shenzhen-based ZTE Corp promised to dismiss four senior employees and discipline 35 others by either reducing their bonuses or reprimanding them, senior Commerce Department officials told Reuters.

    But the Chinese company admitted in March that while it had fired the four senior employees, it had not disciplined or reduced bonuses to the 35 others.

    Chinese telecoms equipment group ZTE Corp hit back in February against concerns from US lawmakers that it is a vehicle for Chinese espionage, saying it was a trusted partner of its US customers.

    China is trying to gain access to sensitive US technologies and intellectual properties through telecommunications companies, academia and joint business ventures, US senators and spy chiefs had warned.

    Republican Senator Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he was concerned about the ties to the Chinese government of Chinese telecoms companies like Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE.

     

  • Huawei founder, executives to pay $469,000 fine over quality breaches

    Huawei Technologies Co founder Ren Zhengfei and top executives will pay a self-imposed fine totalling 469,000 dollars for management oversight of some quality breaches at the firm, an internal company memo shows on Friday.

    According to a notice sent to Huawei member of staff, Ren said there had been cases of “quality breach and business falsification” at some business units in recent years.

    He said that the board had decided to hold key leaders responsible.

    Ren, who did not provide any details about the breach, was fined 1 million yuan.

    The Huawei’s three rotating CEOs Guo Ping, Eric Xu, Ken Hu and human resources president Jason Li were fined 500,000 yuan each, according to the memo.

    Founded in 1987 by Ren, an ex-People’s Liberation Army officer, Huawei is collectively owned by its employees and known for a culture of strong discipline including self-criticism.

    The Shenzhen-headquartered company has some 180,000 staff and has grown rapidly in recent years to become China’s biggest maker of telecom equipment and smartphones.

    “Ren did not issue this penalty in response to any specific event, but to encourage the management team to reflect on past management and decision-making gaps.

    “The fine in question relates to incidents uncovered during an internal audit,” Huawei told Reuters.

    According to a person briefed on the matter, Huawei’s northern and eastern European regional business, including its Poland office, was found to have inflated sales data.

     

  • Why U.S. lawmakers are urging AT&T to cut commercial ties with Huawei

    U.S. lawmakers are urging AT&T Inc., the No. 2 wireless carrier to cut all commercial ties to Chinese phone maker, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

    The lawmakers are also advised to oppose plans by telecom operator China Mobile Ltd. to enter the U.S. market because of national security concerns, according to two congressional aides.

    The warning comes after the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump took a harder line on policies initiated by his predecessor Barack Obama on issues ranging from Beijing’s role in restraining North Korea to Chinese efforts to acquire U.S. strategic industries.

    Earlier this month, AT&T was forced to scrap a plan to offer its customers Huawei handsets after some members of Congress lobbied against the idea with federal regulators, sources told the press.

    The U.S. government has also blocked a string of Chinese acquisitions over national security concerns, including Ant Financial’s proposed purchase of U.S. money transfer company MoneyGram International Inc.

    The lawmakers are also advising U.S. companies that if they have ties with Huawei or China Mobile, it could hamper their ability to do business with the U.S. government, one aide said, requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.

    One of the commercial ties senators and House members want AT&T to cut is its collaboration with Huawei over standards for the high-speed next generation 5G network, the aides said.

    Another is the use of Huawei handsets by AT&T’s discount subsidiary Cricket, the aides said.

    China Mobile, the world’s biggest mobile phone operator, did not respond to requests for comment.

    AT&T declined to comment but said that it had made no decisions on 5G suppliers.

    U.S. lawmakers who have in the past expressed concerns about the prospect of the deal between AT&T and Huawei either declined to comment or were not immediately available.

    Huawei declined to comment but earlier this week told the Media that it sells its equipment through more than 45 of the world’s top 50 carriers and puts the privacy and security of its customers as its top priority.

    National security experts fear that any data from a Huawei device, for example, about the location of the phone’s user, would be available to Chinese government intelligence services.

    In 2012, Huawei and ZTE Corp. were the subject of a U.S. investigation into whether their equipment provided an opportunity for foreign espionage and threatened critical U.S. infrastructure – a link that Huawei has consistently denied.

    “The next wave of wireless communication has enormous economic and national security implications.

    “China’s participation in setting the standards and selling the equipment raises many national security issues that demand strict and prompt attention,” said Michael Wessel.

    Wessel is a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which was set up by Congress.

    U.S. lawmakers do not want China Mobile to be given a license to do business in the U.S., the congressional aides said.

    China Mobile applied for the license in 2011, and the application is pending before the Federal Communications Commission.

    Huawei and Chinese telecom firms have long struggled to gain a toehold in the U.S. market partly because of U.S. government pressure on potential U.S. partners.

    Two Republican lawmakers, Representatives Michael Conaway and Liz Cheney, introduced a bill this week that bars the U.S. government from using or contracting with Huawei or ZTE Corp, a Chinese telecommunications and equipment and systems company.

     

  • UNN signs MoU with Huawei to establish ICT academy

    The University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HUAWEI, a Chinese ICT company to establish an ICT Academy.

    In his remarks during the occasion, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Prof. Benjamin Ozumba, who signed on behalf of the institution, said the Huawei Academy Programme would benefit both staff and students of the university.

    “ICT is the backbone of technology and innovations in every part of the world. Both UNN with Huawei will benefit from the MoU as the University has 45, 000 students population and about 15,000 are post-graduate students who have the zeal for research and innovation.

    “I assure Huawei that UNN will live up to its expectations on the MoU,” he said.

    Ozumba commended the ICT giant for finding the UNN worthy to establish the academy and pledged the support of staff and students of the university.

    “Whatever Huawei will invest in UNN, it will reap many benefits from it.

    “Lecturers in the university will benefit from the academy, as they will be using the resources from the academy, which ordinarily we cannot provide, to teach their students.

    “UNN does not have simulators but the university will be using simulators because of Huawei academy in UNN,” he said.

    The Channel Service Project Manager, Mr Simon Zhang who signed on behalf of Hauwei, said UNN was the first university in Nigeria that Huawei academy has been established and promised that the company would do its best to ensure more staff and students embrace ICT.

    “We are establishing our first Huawei academy in UNN and from here we will reach other universities in Nigeria.

    “I thank the VC and the university management for their approval for the establishment of the academy in UNN,” he said.

    In his remarks, Mr Yemi Joseph, the Senior Solutions Architect Enterprise Marketing & Sales Manager, said the academy was the first ICT established in any federal university, adding that very soon, Huawei would establish an innovative center in UNN.

    “We can create a technology that will discover talents and make people to think innovatively.

    “Huawei Academy programme will help students to kick-start their career by preparing them to work in the ICT industry.

    “The academy will also help them to build their knowledge and confidence, develop their ICT skills and encourage them to gain global recognition and get Huawei certificate,” he said.