All Eyes On Huawei: 3 Things To Know About The Chinese Up-And-Comer

Huawei Technologies Co. may seem like an underdog in the mobile market in comparison to major players like Samsung Electronics Co. (KRX:005930) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), but the Chinese telecommunications services company has poised itself as a formidable opponent as it has become the fastest growing mobile manufacturer.

Currently the third largest smartphone maker in the world, Huawei has seen its market share grow in the last quarter while market share for Samsung and Apple have dropped. Huawei has sold more than 52 million smartphones in the last year and is aiming to sell over 80 million this year.

Richard Yu, head of Huawei's consumer business group, recently spoke with the Wall Street Journal about the companies intrinsic past and how it hopes to continue its growth in the future. Here are the top three takeaways from the interview.

Huawei’s primary business is telecoms. The company got into the mobile device game with the introduction of the iPhone; however, its main business is working with telecommunication companies to build the technologies that make smartphones work; fixed broadband and mobile broadband networks in particular. Because of this, Yu believes that Huawei is better equipped to build devices that work best with the latest network technology.

Huawei’s devices will remain Android-based. The company has no plans to deviate from using Google Inc.’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Android operating system to power its devices. Huawei has halted plans to develop any devices running Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone OS and isn't attempting to develop its own system. Yu notes that developing a new OS is easy but developing an ecosystem to support said OS is not. This is why Huawei also won’t put any stake in Samsung’s Tizen’s OS. “We feel Tizen has no chance to be successful,” he told the WSJ.

Huawei favors research over acquisitions. Other fast-growing mobile companies are getting into the business of acquiring other companies in order to continue their influence. Chinese manufacturer Lenovo Group is in the process of acquiring Motorola Solutions Inc.'s (NYSE:MSI) Motorola Mobility unit, which Yu says may help the company grow its market share. But Huawei’s goal is to focus research and development and to grow in a way that also benefits consumers. “Without investing more in R&D, you can't bring better products and more value to consumers,” Yu said.