Industry information 2022.03.09

Huawei's strategy to rescue its mobile business

 

  1. Developing Independent Chips: Huawei focused on enhancing its chip development, starting as early as 2003. After facing setbacks in the mobile chip market, it began producing its own chips, such as the Kirin series. Despite challenges, the company continued to push forward, even expanding its efforts to develop advanced semiconductors and securing reserves to handle the chip shortage.

  2. Selling the Honor Brand: To mitigate the impact of the sanctions, Huawei sold its Honor brand in November 2020. This move allowed Honor to regain access to suppliers like Qualcomm, which Huawei itself couldn't utilize due to the US sanctions. This strategic sale helped Huawei focus more on its core business while enabling Honor to independently thrive.

  3. Expanding the Ecosystem with HarmonyOS: Huawei has also been advancing its "1+8+N" strategy, which involves the integration of smartphones, tablets, PCs, wearables, and more into a connected ecosystem. Along with this, Huawei opened its HarmonyOS to the public in June 2021, aiming to establish a broad ecosystem in the AIoT sector.

  4. Adjusting Consumer Business Strategy: As part of short-term recovery, Huawei has adjusted its distribution strategies by focusing more on high-end devices and integrating hardware products like smart speakers, earbuds, and AIoT devices alongside smartphones.

These approaches show Huawei's multi-faceted response to the constraints of the chip shortage and market challenges, with an emphasis on innovation, resourcefulness, and strategic shifts