Huawei Gives Up the US Market

After having suffered several setbacks in the United States where it has been trying to make its nest for years, the Chinese giant of mobile and telecom equipment affirmed that the country of Uncle Sam no longer constituted its priority.

This will not improve the already strained relations between Washington and Beijing. Huawei, who had dreamed of settling in the United States for years, finally decided to throw in the towel after having suffered a series of setbacks. According to Forbes, Eric Xu, acting CEO of China’s telecom and smartphone equipment giant, explained last weekend that Uncle Sam’s country was no longer his priority.

“There are things you can’t change, and it’s best not to overthink it,” he said at an annual analyst summit in Shenzhen. We can devote all our energy and time to our customers, and develop more efficient products to meet their expectations.

This decision comes as Huawei after the failure, in early January, of a partnership with the American mobile operator AT&T, on which he relied to distribute his smartphones. Knowing, moreover, that another distributor, Best Buy, indicated last month that it would no longer sell the terminals of the Chinese group. These last setbacks were obviously too much for Huawei’s staff. It must be said that the band has long been the subject of criticism in the United States. The American political sphere has long perceived its products as a threat to the country’s security. Officially, it fears that Beijing will use them for espionage or cyber attacks.

This is one of the main reasons why Huawei, the world’s third-largest smartphone company behind Samsung and Apple, has decided to focus its strengths on other markets. In addition to China, of course, the group has made the Old Continent one of its top priorities. At the end of March, the Chinese telecoms giant chose Paris to launch its new high-end terminals: the P20 and P20 Pro. Huawei also relies heavily on Africa, where it relies on low-cost terminals to attract consumers. Knowing that this market is still growing, while developed countries, such as China, Europe or the United States, are considered mature markets, with already very high levels of equipment.

There is uncertainty about what will happen to Huawei’s 1,200 employees in the United States. If research teams could stay on site, those dedicated to sales or marketing would probably no longer be needed. Huawei, which aims to become the world’s number one smartphone eventually, is in any case deprived of a vast market. According to the Idate think tank, the North American terminal market was valued at 177 billion euros in 2017, compared with 251 billion for Asia-Pacific and 175 billion for Europe. Huawei’s decision will undoubtedly add fuel to the current trade war between the United States and China. Knowing, moreover, that another Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer, ZTE, has recently been deprived of American electronic components after a case of violation of the embargo against Iran and North Korea.