Leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands have isolated the United States of America in its move to ban Huawei Technologies Company Limited and its affiliates to its “Entity List.” The US recently decided to ban Huawei from buying parts and components from its companies without government-approved licenses.
French President, Emmanuel Macron said that it is not the aim of France to block Huawei, nor to launch any form of technological war even as German Chancellor, Angela Merkel said that the companies could participate in expanding Germany’s 5G network if they met established safety criteria.
In an interview with CNBC Africa on Wednesday, Huawei Vice President of Corporate Communications, Glenn Schloss said: “the devices in people’s hands are completely unaffected by what’s happening in the US. For owners of Huawei handsets it will be business as usual.
“We remain positive, but we are preparing for various eventualities. We are stockpiling components and have been working with our supply-chain partners for some time.”
Meanwhile, Huawei Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ren Zhengfei expressed confidence in the company’s business and capacity, saying the company had been preparing in anticipation of situations as of now, and it is well- prepared.
“We will certainly be able to continue serving our customers. Our production capacity is huge, and adding Huawei to the Entity List won’t have a huge impact on us. We are making progress in bidding worldwide.” Ren said.
According to him, the preparation includes the company’s huge R&D investment and contingency plan. According to the 2018 EU R&D Investment Scoreboard, Huawei ranks fifth,with steady growth in its R&D investment.
Huawei has a consistent Business Continuity Management System which has been certified by dozens of neutral third parties in Europe. The company has also
Ren conceded that he expected Huawei’s growth to slow down, but expressed confidence in the company’s future prospects.
“In the first quarter of this year, our revenue grew 39% over the same period last year. This rate decreased to 25% in April, and may continue decreasing towards the end of this year. But the US ban will not lead to negative growth or harm the development of our industry.”
