Huawei Photo: VCG

 
Chinese tech giant Huawei on Monday launched a series of new products ranging from phones, smart watches, smart home systems and an electric car named the AITO M7 SUV, as it is still seeking to diversify its sources of revenue amid the years-long US sanctions.

The gadgets were unveiled at its flagship summer launch event held in both online and offline format in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, home to its  headquarters. 

The most eye-catching new products involve a Nova 10 phone series featuring strong photography capability with its self-developed HarmonyOS. 

He Gang, president of Huawei's consumer business mobile phone product line, told the Monday press conference that Nova users have reached more than 200 million globally as of June this year.

Another highly anticipated product was the new electric car, a direction it bet big on after its core businesses suffered setbacks due to US chip sanctions. Huawei has emphasized its ambition in the vehicle sector several times, saying it will increase investment in autonomous driving and step up cooperation with carmakers, while reiterating its decision to stay out of manufacturing cars.

Yu Chengdong, CEO of the Consumer BG at Huawei, said it has sold more than 10,000 units of the AITO M5 and delivered 11,296 units within just 87 days after the car hit the market. The AITO M5 was launched in December 2021 and started to deliver in March this year.

"AITO has become the fastest growing smart electric vehicle brand," Yu said.

It can be seen from some of Huawei's terminal release events that the firm is increasing its investment and publicity in the non-mobile phone business. It is still hoping to find new growth points to offset the decline in the mobile phone business, Jiang Junmu, a close follower and veteran industry analyst, told the Global Times on Monday. 

But the road is bumpy, as other non-mobile phone businesses either have less market space or already have a group of strong competitors, Jiang said.

Huawei's revenue continued to trend lower over the first quarter of the year - first quarterly revenue came in at 131 billion yuan ($19.81 billion), down 13.9 percent on the year before. Its net profit margin shrank by 6.8 percentage points from the prior year to 4.3 percent for the first quarter.

Whether it can replicate the success of the mobile phone business in the new market such as auto accessories only time will tell, Jiang said.

In an internal communication memo Huawei Xinsheng Community, Huawei's official employee community platform, published on Monday, CEO and founder Ren Zhengfei told company staff that there should be no taboos or barriers in communication among Huawei's internal employees and experts.

"For external communication, everyone must control their own proportions, but they still need to communicate more. Huawei must do a good job of open communication and eliminate all those who prevent us from opening up," Ren said.

"As long as people with conservative thoughts speak hesitantly, it is difficult to absorb the energy of others to improve themselves," said Ren.

Global Times