5G carrier biz, R&D investment to help Huawei thrive: Report

New Delhi: Hit hard by the US sanctions on the consumer side, the 5G carrier and enterprise businesses will play a more important role in Huaweis overall growth over the next several years, according to a new report.

An expansion in home market and R&D investments could be the foundation of Huawei’s survival plan, said market research firm Strategy Analytics.

The report said that although the carrier business revenue also dropped in the first half of 2021, the aggressive 5G network expansion by Chinese carriers is expected to boost Huawei’s performance in the next few years. 

“The slow 5G rollout in China in the first half 2021 impacted on the performance of Huawei’s carrier business. But Chinese operators recently kicked off a new round of 5G deployment in new frequency bands,” said Guang Yang, Director, Strategy Analytics’ Service Provider Group.

“It is expected that the fast-expanding home market will continue to be a strong growth engine for Huawei’s carrier business over the next few years,” Yang added.

Huawei’s extensive IPR portfolio should also strengthen its leadership position in telecom infrastructure in those markets where its sales are not restricted, and help the company to expand its business footprint in global ICT markets.

“Huawei plans to continue its high level of R&D investment in telecoms and to leverage its extensive IPR portfolio as it builds on long established ICT and Cloud software expertise to expand its business across the broader ICT market worldwide,” said Sue Rudd, Director of Networks and Service Platforms at Strategy Analytics.

“Huawei will need to further exploit its early 5G scale advantage and ICT strengths to grow sustainably beyond the Chinese market,” Rudd added.