Huawei targets top spot in PC market within 5 years. Why?

Huawei has set out it ambitions in the PC category, aiming to be the number one player in that declining market within three to five years.

Only a matter of days after launched a new series of PCs, Huawei has been typically bullish setting its sights on leapfrogging the likes of HP, Lenovo, Dell, Apple, and Acer in the rankings race. The MateBook Series was launched towards the end of May, and has been receiving some positive reviews.

“Whenever Huawei decides to enter an area, make a product, our target is always to be a global leader,” said Wan Biao, COO of Huawei’s consumer business group, in an interview with CNBC. “I think this comes from Huawei’s unswerving input in R&D, and our innovation capabilities. I think these has already been proven in our smartphone products.”

Maybe someone should point out to Biao that Huawei’s smartphone business is currently sitting in third place, unless he has access to figures which we are not privy to. Huawei is certainly progressing in the smartphone segment, however Samsung and Apple are proving to be stubborn leaders, despite problems faced over the last few months.

The consumer group on the whole does seem to be an area of the business which Huawei is pushing hard at the moment, with there being some apparent success as well. Smartphone shipments were up 21.6% year-on-year in Q1 2017, and the brand has also hit an all-time high of 88th on Forbes’ list of the Most Valuable Brands of 2017.

While it would seem logical to continue the push into smartphone, while simultaneously trying to crack the wearables space, the push into PCs is a slightly strange one. Yes, there is money to be made there, but it would be a short-term gain. The market is continuing to decline as tablets continue to become more advanced, so it does seem like a bit of a strange move from Huawei.

Perhaps one explanation is to create their own version of the cult-like army of iLifers which Apple has been cultivating and exploiting so successfully for so long. With smartphones, wearables and PCs, Huawei can start to create its own cluster. Smart home devices could be next, or how about a connected fridge?! Apple has shown this move can work, though the iLeader has spent considerably more on brand advertising over the years to create the iMecca for it iBelievers.

For some, Biao might be overconfident as taking on Apple in the PC space will be a very tricky task. That said, momentum is certainly with the Chinese giant, and success in the carrier and enterprise segments show that when Huawei puts its mind to something, world domination is a very realistic possibility.