Chinese technology giant Huawei braced itself in the context of the US “strike”

Huawei Technologies is consolidating its new digital energy technology business to help ensure the Chinese tech giant’s “survival and growth” in the face of US sanctions , which has stymied their core communications equipment units.

Boham Sun, president of Huawei Digital Power Asia-Pacific told Nikkei Asia in an interview that “sanctions really pose significant challenges for Huawei”, with the company “still being in survival mode” maintains stability.

The growth of the digital energy technology business provides critical equipment such as inverters, and efficient AI-based energy dispatching systems for facilities such as solar farms, he said. sky, and data centers, will “make a great contribution to Huawei’s existence and development in the present and near future”.

Asia Pacific “is the market with the greatest potential” for the company’s digital energy technology business, he said, as “all countries in the region are actively participating in into green energy and carbon neutrality”. “Huawei is welcomed in many of these countries,” he added.

Originally, Huawei has had limited access to critical US technologies due to the US crackdown, which has significantly affected its smartphone business. The US and a number of other Western countries have also banned the use of Huawei’s 5G equipment in their communications infrastructure. Huawei in March reported total revenue of 636.8 billion yuan ($99.9 billion) in 2021, down 28.5% from 2020. However, the company’s net profit rose. more than 75% in 2021 due to steady growth in profits and one-time profits from yarn cutting some of their businesses.

In addition to being known for communication equipment and smartphones, the company also has a significant share of the global market for inverters, a key piece of equipment used in solar farms and power centers. data. According to Mr. Sun, Huawei ranks No. 1 in China and globally in the inverter business.

Huawei initially developed digital electric power technologies for use with its own communications equipment. Based on these technologies, Huawei subsequently established a range of products for industries such as photovoltaics and data centers. In June 2021, the company established its digital energy technology business as a separate unit.

Mr. Sun said Huawei has “gained rich experience in power generation, transmission and distribution over the past 30 years”, adding that the revenue of the new business grew more than 30% in 2018. 2021. “We could see ourselves sustaining strong growth this year,” he said.

Currently, Huawei’s digital energy technology business has about 6,000 employees, with 12 research and development centers in China, Europe and Asia.

The digital energy technology business has been expanding into Asia-Pacific. In Singapore, clean energy supplier Sunseap uses Huawei equipment and technology for its floating solar farm. Huawei has also provided solar technology to schools and hospitals in Indonesia and Cambodia.

Sun said there was a “huge demand” for its business unit in the Asia-Pacific region, referring to Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

“We comply with all regulations in the local communities and markets. As a result, we have won the trust of local customers and the government,” he said.

When asked if the US sanctions would affect the supply chain of Huawei’s digital electric power business, Mr. Sun said: “Huawei is in the process of diversifying its supply chain, so we don’t have to depend on one country or one company.” He further revealed that the inverters the company supplies to Asia-Pacific customers “are all made in China through the global supply chain”, but that they are considering “building them in other countries”. other countries, if the need arises”.

Amid supply chain disruptions in China due to COVID-related lockdowns in and around Shanghai, Sun said the company has “diversified our suppliers so we can stay afloat”. business continuity and meet customer needs”.

As for the future expansion of Huawei’s digital energy business, Sun pointed to the electric vehicle boom and said he was “very optimistic about the future of the automotive vehicle charging network industry”.