'Huawei under US sanctions: "We will maintain smartphone business... The throne will return"'

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Joselgina] Huawei, which was hit hard by US government sanctions, has made it clear that it will continue its smartphone business and aims to return to the 'throne.'

On the 18th (local time), according to major foreign media including the economic outlet CNBC, Guo Ping, Huawei's rotating chairman, stated during a Q&A session with new employees, "Huawei will continue to exist in the mobile sector," and added, "As chip manufacturing capabilities improve, we expect to return to the smartphone throne."

Chairman Guo acknowledged that "the most difficult issue for us currently is mobile phones," admitting that Huawei is facing difficulties due to US sanctions. He lamented, "We all know that advanced technology is needed to make small and power-efficient mobile phones," and said, "Huawei can design them, but no one is helping with production, which has held us back."

Huawei, China's largest telecommunications equipment company and smartphone manufacturer, was placed on the US government's blacklist in 2019 during the Donald Trump administration, citing national security threats. Since then, transactions with companies like Google and Qualcomm have been blocked, cutting off access to essential technologies such as the Android operating system (OS) and advanced semiconductors necessary for smartphone production.

Once surpassing Samsung Electronics to rank first in the global smartphone market on a quarterly basis, Huawei's shipments in the fourth quarter of last year were halved, pushing it out of the top five. In the first half of this year, Huawei's consumer division revenue decreased by 47% compared to the same period last year. Although the new flagship smartphone 'P50' series was released last month after delays, it had to forgo 5G due to the inability to procure semiconductor chip components.

However, Chairman Guo emphasized that "there is no problem with survival," expressing his intention to strengthen research and development (R&D) and investment to overcome US sanctions. He said, "I hope the day comes soon when China can make chips," and added, "Until that day, we will continue the mobile division and strive to maintain and develop technology to produce competitive mobile phones."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.