Huawei Surprise: Ready To Offer 5G License To US Firm

Huawei Technologies battling the U.S ban in 5G products has offered to license its 5G mobile technology to a U.S. firm in a bid to alleviate the allegations of security concerns about its products.

Huawei is the world’s largest producer of telecoms gear. Stating this, company founder CEO Ren Zhengfei said the Chinese telecom giant is least afraid of creating a competitor in the U.S by giving out its trade secrets and technology.

Ren’s recently said he is open to selling the 5G technology of the company including patents, code, blueprints and production know-how to Western firms for a one-off fee.

Ren explained why he is particular about a U.S. company getting its 5G license as Europe is already home to many competitors including Nokia and Ericsson AB and it needs no help to compete.

However, Ren also said the U.S. technology is not indispensable to its survival and noted Huawei is on track to produce 600,000 base stations and the next target will be 1.5 million.

The company has proved it can make 5G happen without American components. However, it still prefers buying from U.S. suppliers, Ren added.

US ban and 5 G market share

Huawei was blacklisted by the U.S in May citing concerns that using the company’s equipment in the networks will raise security issues and lead to possible espionage and hacking opportunity for China.

Despite the U.S ban and American pressure on allies to avoid Huawei equipment for 5G networks, Ryan Ding, president of Huawei’s carrier business said Huawei equipment still dominates two-thirds of commercially launched 5G networks outside China.

The Chinese telecom major grabbed 50 commercial 5G contracts outside China including markets of South Korea, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Finland and more.

The Shenzhen-based firm has shipped more than 150,000 base stations, until June, said Ding.

Huawei managers point out that a large number of deals came despite the U.S advising its allies to stay away from Huawei equipment. In 5G, Huawei stands out with its offer of end-to-end network solutions as a full system of hardware.

Strong presence in the smartphone market

Huawei is also the No.2 smartphone vendor globally with Apple iPhone and Samsung as main rivals.

The Chinese major has progressively increased the market share over the years with its popular smartphone products such as Huawei p20 pro, Huawei smartphones, Huawei p30, and Huawei y9.

However, Huawei acknowledged that the U.S ban on American technology will depress its revenue by $10 billion in phone business this year.