Huawei Technologies Co (華為), facing a widening global crackdown on its telecom equipment, is bolstering its presence at the industry’s biggest conference in an attempt to land deals. Its plans risk being foiled by a powerful foe: the US government.
US officials are also increasing the size of their delegation to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this month, saying they want to help other nations focus on the security of next-generation mobile gear. They are not calling the meeting a showdown with Huawei, but that agenda — provided by three officials who asked not to be identified — is a not-so-veiled reference to their concerns about the Chinese tech giant over espionage allegations and sanctions busting.
The US team plans to advocate for other providers of next-generation mobile gear, such as Cisco Systems Inc, Ericsson AB and Nokia Oyj, according to one of the officials. The effort comes amid an intensified campaign by US President Donald Trump’s administration in Europe, Shenzhen-based Huawei’s biggest market outside China, where governments in the UK, Germany, France and other places are weighing whether to restrict its gear from 5G networks.
The US’ focus on Huawei has extended from its equipment to charges it stole intellectual property and violated sanctions on exports to Iran, in an escalation of tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.
Huawei has denied wrongdoing and long maintained it does not provide back doors for the Chinese government, pointing out that no one has provided evidence to support such concerns.
The Mobile World Congress is a key annual event that has helped Huawei — a major sponsor of the gathering — burnish its reputation as the dominant telecom equipment supplier. Huawei signed several deals last year, including one with France’s Bouygues Telecom to make Bordeaux the first city for a 5G network trial and one with BT Group PLC to do more joint 5G testing.
“We are continuing to grow at MWC,” Huawei spokesman Adam Mynott said by phone. “This remains our most important trade function of the year.”
This year, Huawei is to unveil a foldable 5G phone, demonstrate how the technology works in a joint presentation with Vodafone Group PLC, and make executives available to network with journalists, politicians and clients. About 100,000 people are expected to attend the four-day conference that starts on Feb. 25, to see the latest phones, artificial intelligence gadgets and autonomous drones exhibited by about 2,000 companies.
Guo Ping (郭平), Huawei’s rotating chairman, and Richard Yu (余承東), chief executive officer of its consumer division, face a prominent US lineup. State Department staff are to be joined by high-ranking officials including US Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs Manisha Singh and Brian Bulatao, a former CIA executive nominated as undersecretary of state for management by Trump, one of the officials said.
The US wants to convey its conviction that security of 5G networks is paramount because the technology is crucial as the world digitizes, independent of an individual supplier, another official said.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
‘FAILED EXPORT CONTROLS’: Jensen Huang said that Washington should maximize the speed of AI diffusion, because not doing so would give competitors an advantage Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) yesterday criticized the US government’s restrictions on exports of artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China, saying that the policy was a failure and would only spur China to accelerate AI development. The export controls gave China the spirit, motivation and government support to accelerate AI development, Huang told reporters at the Computex trade show in Taipei. The competition in China is already intense, given its strong software capabilities, extensive technology ecosystems and work efficiency, he said. “All in all, the export controls were a failure. The facts would suggest it,” he said. “The US
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed gratitude to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) for its plan to invest approximately 250 million euros (US$278 million) in a joint venture in France focused on the semiconductor and space industries. On his official X account on Tuesday, Macron thanked Hon Hai, also known globally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), for its investment projects announced at Choose France, a flagship economic summit held on Monday to attract foreign investment. In the post, Macron included a GIF displaying the national flag of the Republic of China (Taiwan), as he did for other foreign investors, including China-based
RSS