HUAWEI GLOBAL ANALYST SUMMIT 2021: Huawei rotating chairman Eric Xu (pictured) highlighted the need to rebuild trust and restore cooperation across the global semiconductor supply chain to bring the industry back on track and avoid rising prices.

Xu called on global leaders to focus on the potential risks of trade restrictions, arguing these disrupted trust in the industry, with more countries worrying about supply chain security.

“In the coming years, higher costs for the semiconductor industry is something we’re pretty sure of. The unwarranted US sanctions undermined our company,” he said, noting the damage has been felt across the sector.

“I hope they can help restore trust and cooperation as soon as possible.”

Xu noted Huawei’s 2020 performance was in line with expectations, aided by moves to address supply chain continuity and heavy R&D investment of CNY142 billion ($21.7 billion), 15.9 per cent of total revenue.

“We will continue to see a lot of attention on Huawei in 2021 and believe it will be a challenging year.”

To increase business resilience, he said it will strengthen its software capabilities with increased investments.

Huawei Inside
It is pushing aggressively to bring its Harmony OS, which currently runs on smart displays and wearables, to smartphones, with 20 handset vendors and 260 app developers collaborating to build an ecosystem.

Huawei expects 40 mainstream brands to run the OS on 100 million devices in 2021.

Xu clarified its position on its work on connected vehicles, explaining it is focused on delivering intelligent components to auto makers. “As an ICT company, we want to provide ICT capabilities for future autonomous and electric vehicles. We also hope to create new business models.”

He said its new Huawei Inside brand is partnering with Chinese manufacturers SAIC Motor, Changan Automobile and GAC Group, with the goal of adding more companies in future as part of a $1 billion investment in the sector.

Once self-driving becomes a reality, Xu said Huawei will be able to disrupt all related sectors in the next decade.