The outlook for Huawei’s smartphone business is not as pessimistic as founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei forecast back in June, rotating chairman Eric Xu revealed today, noting the prediction was a worst-case scenario, with the situation now much better than expected.

However, Xu (pictured) said its handset business, depending on trade issues, could still be reduced by as much as $10 billion.

IDC data showed Huawei increased its market share in the second quarter as its shipments increased 8.3 per cent to 58.7 million units in a falling global market. In China the vendor boosted its market share by nearly 10 percentage points.

Xu also noted that despite the latest US export ban reprieve, it’s unlikely Huawei will be relieved of the restrictions in the long term. “We know we have to be prepared,” he admitted, and the temporary permit won’t influence its planned product roadmap.

On the sidelines of the event a Huawei representative also confirmed that its 5G gear has been re-engineered to not be subject to any US trade restrictions.

Regional approaches to 5G
Xu explained that despite a global consensus on the need for 5G, operators are taking three very different approaches.

The first wave – South Korea and China – are moving ahead with large-scale deployments. The second group is only focused on small-scale rollouts for “branding purposes” and includes the US, Australia and some countries in Europe. The third is the late-comers in countries where 4G hasn’t been fully developed.

He took a swipe at Europe, saying it continues “to talk about 5G” while in China “we are doing it”.