Huawei agrees 40 5G contracts

Huawei has shrugged off its recent difficulties by signing up more mobile operators as 5G customers.

The Chinese telecoms equipment giant had agreed 40 commercial 5G deals by the end of March and has now shipped more than 45,000 5G base stations.

Rotating CEO Ken Hu confirmed the figures during a speech at the Huawei Analyst Summit in its hometown of Shenzhen where he said the company expected there to be 2.8 million 5G users by the end of 2025.

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Huawei 5G contracts

He added that this is the first generation of mobile networks in which handset development has kept pace with that of network development. Huawei will be a major player in both markets, competing with the likes of Ericsson and Nokia in infrastructure, and with Apple and Samsung in smartphones.

Huawei’s progress has been thwarted by hostility from the US government, which has banned the use of the company’s kit in American 5G networks on national security concerns. Huawei has repeatedly denied such accusations, going as far as to sue the US government, but this hasn’t stopped Washington from placing pressure on its allies to adopt a similar stance.

Concerns are easing though, with the EU urging member states to share cybersecurity data with each other rather than banning a single vendor, while Germany is keen to promote supplier diversity and has strengthened security requirements for all suppliers – not just Huawei. It is thought the UK will adopt a similar approach when a report is published later this month.

And it appears as though there has been no major impact on the business. Despite a modest decline in carrier revenues, overall income was up by a fifth thanks to strong sales of smartphones. And with demand for 5G equipment likely to increase over the coming months and years, Huawei will be confident revenues will continue to grow.