Huawei handsets off the market

In a week of financial turmoil it will come as little surprise to learn that Chinese mega-vendor Huawei has decided to postpone the sale of a stake in its handset unit.

Back in May, when the firm hired Morgan Stanley to organise the sale of a business worth an estimated $3.5bn, local reports claimed network operators AT&T and Vodafone were among the names seeking to buy into China’s largest mobile equipment maker.

Several private equity firms showed an interest in the business when the auction finally started. However, only two – Bain Capital and Silver Lake -submitted formal offers for the stake it was reported last week.

“Given the current global market condition and prevailing economic uncertainty, the interests of the company are best served by postponing the sale process,” the company said in a statement.

Earlier this week Reuters reported that UBS analyst Maynard Um said he would be cutting his forecast for growth in the mobile handset sector in half, from six per cent down to three per cent. While over at JPMorgan, analyst Ehud Gelblum cut his forecast from 8.1 per cent to 6.1 per cent.

Huawei and indeed handset manufacturers everywhere will be hoping that the recent run of government bail-outs and interest rate cuts will help lift consumer confidence in the crucial run up to Christmas.