Fast-growing Huawei neither buying nor spying
Vendor commited to transparency and eschewing acquisitions, reiterates CEO
Huawei chief executive Ping Guo has dismissed as baseless nagging accusations by US and European regulators that his company poses a security and economic threat.
He also said the Chinese networking giant would not soon be making any major acquisitions because it is ill-prepared to integrate them, according to an interview in Germany's Die Welt.
Guo called cybersecurity "one of the greatest challenges" for humanity. He said Huawei would continue to work within the industry as well as with governments and regulators to ensure the integrity of its products.
The response was aimed squarely at US critics who have accused Huawei of cyber espionage.
Guo is one of three Huawei executives who rotate into the CEO spot every six months.
The 47-year-old took head-on the suspicions of Huawei's trustworthiness, which were fanned in October 2012 when a US congressional subcommittee issued a report citing Huawei and fellow China-based telecommunications company ZTE for secretive business practices and ties to the Chinese communist government.
There have been claims that its equipment could be used to spy on companies and government agencies around the world.
"I cannot understand how they come to this assertion," Guo said of the US legislators. "I have read the report, but I could not find any concrete accusations.
"If real problems are pointed out, of course we are ready to take appropriate measures on the hardware and software to address this question. I see cybersecurity as a common and global challenge and threat."
Guo acknowledged that the US's suspicions have spread to other countries, including the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Huawei was founded by a former Chinese military officer in 1987, and some countries have restricted the vendor's ability to bid on certain networking contracts.
Europe has also of late accused Huawei of anti-competitive price-dumping, supported by subsidies from the Chinese government.
"We are not price-dumping," Guo told Die Welt. "We are not successful because of our prices. We are an innovative company with thousands of patents. We spent $4.8bn (£3bn) on research and development last year."
The issues do not appear to be slowing Huawei's impressive growth and global revenues, which topped $35bn last year and are expected to grow at least 10 per cent this year, he added.
The Huawei leader said he does not expect to dip into his company's swelling coffers to acquire a mobility provider, either, despite growing competition from the likes of Microsoft.
"We have not yet made major acquisitions, because we believe our integration capabilities are not yet sufficient," Guo said. "A takeover is easy, integration is the difficulty afterwards.
"Huawei is open-minded and likes to cooperate with other companies. The mobile phone market is very dynamic. We need more experience dealing directly with customers. And we need to make our brand known."
As part of our special editorial partnership, CRN is republishing this article from Channelnomics