Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou reacts as she leaves her home to attend a court hearing in Vancouver, Canada, on August 10, 2021.
Jennifer Gauthier | Reuters
SHANGHAI – Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou said on Wednesday that applying 5G technology to business was more difficult than expected.
One of the hopes for 5G connectivity, beyond faster cellular connectivity for individual consumers, is that the technology will enable self-driving cars and factory automation more effectively.
Meng said the challenges of introducing 5G into businesses are underestimated and are completely different from previous 2G, 3G and 4G generations. He said that large-scale operations will only be possible if 5G becomes part of the ecosystem.
Speaking at a keynote session at the Shanghai Mobile World Congress on Wednesday, Meng spoke broadly about the benefits of 5G for consumption and the economy.
Chinese smartphone makers are trying to sell cloud services to specific industries such as mining and finance.
The company released figures for its cloud computing business for the first time in 2022, saying the division had revenue of 45.3 billion Chinese yuan ($6.25 billion) last year.
“Comparing MWC Shanghai and MWC Barcelona [earlier this year]One of the interesting things about it is that many of the case studies turn out to be universal and global.” says Winston Marr, author of “How to Shape Yourself.”
Speaking on the sidelines of Shanghai MWC, he said Chinese companies’ need to compete could spur greater 5G deployment.
“So I think Chinese companies are probably more prepared and more willing to test new 5G applications,” said Ma, who is also an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law.
“But of course, in any industry, especially traditional industries, there are going to be barriers because there is an existing ecosystem.”
Huawei suffered its biggest annual profit decline last year as U.S. sanctions hurt its business and China’s coronavirus response weighed on the local economy.
In May 2019, the Trump administration placed Huawei on a blacklist that restricts American companies from selling technology to Chinese companies due to national security concerns. Huawei denies posing such a threat.
The US, UK and Australia have also banned Huawei from operating on their 5G networks. Earlier this month, a senior EU official called on more member states to do so. Germany is one of the countries that has not yet restricted Huawei from local 5G networks.
Meng, the daughter of Huawei’s founder, returned to China in 2021 after being detained in Canada for about three years at the request of the United States. In addition to being Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer, she is also Vice Chairman and Rotating Chairman of Huawei’s Board of Directors.
—CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal and Ryan Browne contributed to this report.
Correction: This article has been updated to show that Huawei posted its largest annual profit decline last year.
