HUAWEI Replaces Over 13,000 Components with Local Substitutes to Overcome US Sanctions
HUAWEI has replaced more than 13,000 components with local substitutes in its products and redesigned over 4,000 circuit boards in the past three years, founder Ren Zhengfei said, offering a glimpse of its efforts to overcome years of US sanctions.
HUAWEI Took Some Major Steps to Overcome US Sanctions
HUAWEI has been making significant efforts to overcome years of US sanctions by replacing more than 13,000 components in its range of products with local substitutes and redesigning over 4,000 circuit boards in the past three years, according to founder Ren Zhengfei. Ren, 78, said the production of circuit boards has “stabilized” after the Chinese telecoms giant developed replacement parts from domestic sources, according to a transcript of his speech published by Nanjing University. HUAWEI will launch MetaERP, its own resources planning system, next month and fully use its own operating system, data system, compiler and language, it added.
The Shenzhen-based company has been hit by US sanctions in the past few years as technology rivalry intensified amid concerns about the company’s ties to the Chinese military. The Trump administration added HUAWEI to an export blacklist on national security grounds in 2019, hobbling its once-lucrative smartphone business. Ren said until HUAWEI’s skirmishes with the US, he was an advocate of Western technology when he was young and still admired Western tech after he founded HUAWEI, adding that even now he is not “anti West”.
Ren delivered the speech during a February 24 seminar to thank the public and academics who participated in the company’s search for solutions to its technology predicament. The transcript was also posted by Peking University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, among others.
HUAWEI’s efforts to develop its own technology solutions is a significant step in overcoming US sanctions, and this announcement comes at a time when the company is seeking to expand beyond the smartphone market. After the impact of US sanctions on its smartphone business, the company began looking for more opportunities in enterprise solutions, such as helping traditional industries to digitalize their operations.
Ren also discussed HUAWEI’s investments in research and development, which amounted to US$23.8 billion in 2022. Additionally, he spoke about the role of computing power in the industry, and how the opportunity generated by ChatGPT means the industry will need more computing power, which will generate more demand for HUAWEI’s products.
Overall, the move towards locally sourced components and solutions is a significant step for HUAWEI, and one that could help the company to rebuild its once lucrative smartphone business and expand into new markets. As the company continues to develop its own technology solutions, it will be interesting to see how this impacts its position in the global tech industry.
Pokdepinion: One of the things I always thought to myself is where they would be today if it wasn’t for the ban. Would they have been on top of the smartphone world? Or would things eventually play out to how it is today? It’s crazy to think about what could have been.
