Huawei CEO outlines 2013 objectives

Chinese infrastructure vendor Huawei’s rotating and acting CEO Guo Ping has outline the firm’s priorities in a New Year’s message to stakeholders. He revealed that Huawei’s sales revenue for 2012 is expected to exceed $35bn, with a net profit of around $2.4bn, marking more than a ten per cent increase year on year for both. The firm has also now deployed over 130 LTE and over 70 EPC commercial networks worldwide.

“We have weathered another turbulent year,” he said. “The downward spiral in the global economy, an investigation into cyber security allegations by a particular committee of the US Congress, political upheavals in the Middle East and Northern Africa, as well as natural disasters including floods and earthquakes.”

The CEO also announced that Huawei’s strategic objective in 2013 is to establish leading positions in mobile broadband, fixed broadband and backbone network solutions.

“Our value does not simply lie in our capability to help customers lower their procurement costs. More importantly, it lies in our capability to increase their competitiveness and profitability,” he said.

Huawei’s staff should devote energy to specific business objectives, and avoid the impulse to expand business blindly, Guo Ping added, warning that managers who expand business blindly will be held accountable

“There was a time when rapid growth was Huawei’s priority and strong execution was Huawei’s distinctive feature. These characteristics have contributed to our fast development, and at the same time created the lingering issue of extensive management at Huawei,” he said. “As business growth becomes steady and moderate, we have to ensure reasonable profits to support our continuous strategic investment.”

Looking ahead to 2013, the CEO wants the firm to enhance customer/supplier facing roles, consolidate customer/project-based budgeting and accounting, and reasonably control costs.

In addition, the firm will need to mitigate major risks, he warned. Risks caused by historical issues which emerge because of slower business growth, operational risks arising from the deteriorating business environment, as well as business risks associated with uncertainties introduced by the pace of business investment and new business development.

“To survive and develop sustainably, we must prioritise efficiency,” he said.