The technology giant launches its new terminal cloud services platform, supporting global developers to join in.
Image credit: Huawei official website
On February 24, Huawei launched its new product Glory V30 with Huawei Mobile Service (HMS). Glory V30 will be Huawei's first smartphone with pre-installed in-house ecosystem, together with Huawei App Gallery. HMS service can be seen as the Chinese company's answer to Google's GMS.
HMS is the collection of Huawei terminal cloud service open capabilities, including core apps and Application Programmable Interfaces (API). With HMS, Huawei smartphones can now provide GPS service, maps, authentication, as well as a machine learning algorithms-based platform for web developers. These basic features enable programmers to create software and operating system environments that better fit Huawei.
According to Huawei, at the moment, HMS has more than 1.3 million registered developers worldwide and more than 55,000 applications accessing HMS Core globally. As stated on the firm's official website, during the first three quarters of 2019, Huawei generated CNY 610.8 billion in revenue, an increase of 24.4% year-on-year. Its net profit margin during the period was 8.7%. A total of 240 million smartphones were sold in 2019, a 17% jump from 2018.
In May last year, the United States Department of Commerce blacklisted Huawei, which was then called a "threat for the national security". Later on, Huawei accepted an extension of its temporary license four times; the last extension was due on February 16, while the latest accepted extension began on February 13 and will last for 45 days. On February 13, the US prosecutors accused Huawei of stealing trade secrets and helping Iran track protesters in its latest indictment against the Chinese company.
BBC China has quoted Huawei US Chief Security Officer Andy Purdy, saying that “If the US government continues to suppress Huawei, it will hurt the United States far more than it harms Huawei and China." Purdy added that if Huawei can no longer purchase the US suppliers, they "won't have any problems" because the company "is already implementing a backup plan." Huawei has a strategy to overhaul both its procurement and research and development system.
In the global technology industry, Huawei has become an integral part and the main player with focus on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart terminal products and services. Together with its supply chain, it employs nearly 150 foreign and domestic suppliers, bringing in significant profits for most of them.
In the coming days, Huawei is likely to face more issues from the US government and other countries who have joined in banning Huawei from their markets. Having solid competitive advantages, it is, however, able to overcome them in the mid term.