SHENZHEN, China — Founder of Chinese tech giant
Huawei Technologies Ren Zhengfei has called on the company's staff to
"dare to lead the world" in software as the company seeks growth
beyond the hardware operations that US sanctions have crippled.
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The internal memo seen by Reuters is the clearest evidence
yet of the company's direction as it responds to the immense pressure sanctions
have placed on the handset business that was at its core.
Ren said in the memo the company was focusing on software
because future development in the field is fundamentally "outside of US
control and we will have greater independence and autonomy."
As it will be hard for Huawei to produce advanced hardware
in the short term, it should focus on building software ecosystems, such as its
HarmonyOS operating system, its cloud AI system Mindspore, and other IT products,
the note said.
Former US president Donald Trump put Huawei on an export
blacklist in 2019 and barred it from accessing critical US-origin technology,
impeding its ability to design its own chips and source components from outside
vendors.
US President Joe Biden's administration has given no
indication it will reverse Trump's sanctions.
The blacklist also barred Google from providing technical
support to new Huawei phone models and access to Google Mobile Services, the
bundle of developer services upon which most Android apps are based.
Huawei's 2020 annual report did not break down how much of
its 891.4 billion yuan ($138.70 billion) revenue was from its software.
Open source approach
Ren's note also said the software push would depend on
finding the right business model and that the company should adopt an open
source approach, calling on staff to "absorb nutrients" through open
source communities.
He said the company's Welink business communication platform
had relied on traditional software licensing, which was unsuited to cloud
computing and inferior to a rival product from tech giant Alibaba.
Given the difficulty of working in the United States, Ren's
note said the company should strengthen its position at home and build up its
territory with a view to possibly excluding the United States.
"Once we dominate
Europe, the Asia Pacific, and Africa,
if US standards don't match ours, and we can't enter the
US, then the US can't
enter our territory," it said.
Ren's note confirms a direction implied by previous
announcements from the company that hinted at a shift away from handset
hardware.
Rotating chairman Eric Xu in April said the company would
invest more than $1 billion this year in its intelligent driving business.
It is also expanding its smart car partnership with
state-owned Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. to include the design and
development of auto-use semiconductors, sources told Reuters earlier this
month.
Apart from the pressure of sanctions, Huawei is known for
its grueling work culture and the note recommended the software teams should
hire psychology professionals to help young recruits who might find the company
emotionally challenging.
"Now some young people have high IQs, but their EQ
might be low, and their mentality is not mature, and it's easy for them to get
sick," Ren said.
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