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Tag: Huawei Technologies

  • Apple China investing in research hubs

    Apple China investing in research hubs

    Apple China plans to set up two more research hubs and boost investment there.

    The announcement comes as CEO Tim Cook takes his latest trip to Apple’s single biggest overseas market. He is expected to be present at the opening of a new Apple store at Jinmao Place in Nanjing this Saturday, March 25.

    Apple HK

    Apple says it plans to build research hubs in the eastern cities of Shanghai and Suzhou, on top of centres already slated for Beijing and the southern city of Shenzhen. It has also pledged to spend at least US$507 million on research institutions.

    All four centres will open thisyear with the aim of enabling co-operation with local partners and attracting talent.

    Meanwhile, Cook has addressed an economic forum in Beijing attended by senior government officials and leaders of corporations such as Royal Dutch Shell and Saudi Arabian Oil.

    For the first time, iPhone shipments to China fell last year. This followed years of China driving Apple’s growth, even as smartphone demand elsewhere faltered. Now, local vendors like Huawei Technologies, Oppo and Vivo are eroding its market share.

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  • Huawei retail plans 15,000 new stores

    Huawei retail plans 15,000 new stores

    Smartphone maker Huawei plans to open 15,000 retail stores internationally this year in a bid for a record-high shipment of smartphones and greater sales of premium-priced models.

    “We are optimistic and confident about reaching our target shipment of 140 million smartphones this year,” says its business group CEO Richard Yu Chengdong. That would mark a 30 per cent increase in smartphone shipments from 108 million units last year.

    Yu says the Huawei retail store expansion would help drive sales of its high-end smartphones in the US$500 to US$600 range.

    Huawei’s retail arm had 35,000 of its own stores around the world at the end of May, up 116 per cent year on year. It has 11,000 stores in mainland China, 6500 stores across the rest of Asia, 6200 in Europe and 1500 in South America. This compares with Apple’s 484 retail outlets in fewer than 20 countries.

    Huawai  is represented in more than 170 countries and territories, supported by a growing number of third-party shops. These include outlets in shopping malls and stores owned by mobile network operators like China Mobile.

    Its smartphone shipments grew 25 per cent year on year to 60.56 million units in the first six months of this year. Sales generated by the company’s consumer business group in the first half jumped 41 per cent to 77.4 billion yuan (US$11.6 billion), with more than half from overseas markets.

    Data from market research firm GFK shows that Huawei’s share of the global smartphone market reached 11.4 per cent at the end of May. Its share of the premium smartphone market was 25.7 per cent, up from 15.2 per cent at the end of March.

    The Shenzhen-based firm, which also sells network equipment to telecommunications service providers and other enterprises, reported this week that its total revenue in the first half of this year jumped 40 per cent to 245.5 billion yuan, up from 175.9 billion yuan for the same period last year.

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