Chinese telecoms giant Huawei yesterday revealed its business strategy for the burgeoning local market - a customer-centric advance focused on local partnerships and localised operations.
The company presented its tactical plan at the two-day international AfricaCom conference, in Cape Town, where it also showcased its latest devices, including its flagship Vision smartphone and third-generation MediaPad tablet.
Huawei Africa CEO Peng Song says the company's plan is to capitalise on current trends in the emerging market.
“[Huawei will do this by] focusing on the concept of 'glocalisation', which is combining our global efforts with local insights and consideration.”
Song says the company has seen considerable progress in SA in this regard, by way of enterprise development, skills and technology transfer, partnerships with local business and accelerated recruitment of locals.
He adds that the 'glocalisation' strategy is focused on partnering with the local business community through local employees, sharing resources with local partners and providing opportunities to develop local talent that will form the next generation of telecom leaders.
Huawei's newly-established Enterprise Business Unit recently entered into partnership agreements with local companies such as Mustek and Gijima.
Reverse innovation
During the recent 13th Nikkei Global Management Forum in Tokyo, Huawei's deputy chairman, Ken Hu, pointed out that innovation in emerging markets means practicality and adapting to local requirements, “whether it requires adopting cutting-edge technology or just thinking outside of the box”.
Hu says the company has used the concept of “reverse innovation”, where solutions designed for emerging markets are brought to developed markets. “A site-sharing solution originally developed to tackle low utilisation rates of wireless base stations and increase operational efficiency in India, has now been deployed by telecom operators in Europe.”
Ultimately, he says, Huawei's goal is to develop products and solutions that enhance the lives of those in emerging markets.
Device market
Although Huawei has been in existence for 23 years, it has been operational in SA for the last 13. Initially mostly known for its data modems, Huawei has recently been making inroads into the smartphone market.
In December 2010, the IDEOS U8150 smartphone was launched in the Kenyan market. Huawei's marketing director of devices for the Eastern and Southern region Liza de Wet says the Kenyan campaign included a strategic partnership with, among others, Google for its Android 2.2 platform and Qualcomm for the chipset.
This week, AfricaCom provided a platform for Huawei to showcase its latest devices for the first quarter of 2012. Huawei devices MD Leo Wang said key devices included the world's first Android 3.2 Tablet; Huawei's Cloud Phone with cloud computing capabilities; the world's first Hi-Link Modem, Discovery phone, which is anti-shock, water-resistant and dust-proof; as well as Huawei's latest High-Speed Mobile WiFi.
Mobile movement
During Huawei's presentation, Brett St Clair, head of Google Mobile SA, spoke of the proliferation and fast pace of the mobile device market. He said recent research into mobile Internet users, on both a global and South African level, revealed that trends in the US and UK are filtering down into the emerging market.
“We are a nation of immediacy. We want information right now and technology is starting to offer amazing things. Devices are becoming more convenient. We no longer have a computer in our pocket - we have a better computer in our pocket. The market has evolved so quickly in the space of just a year.”
St Clair says that, while the 15% smartphone penetration currently in SA does not sound like much, it is impressive compared to the 30% in the UK. He says the market is evolving so quickly that a five-year plan is almost obsolete.
“Ninety-eight percent of the world needs to be connected by 2015. Huawei is a part of that as it revolutionises the African market with affordable devices.”
Share