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| Huawei plunges into the world of electric cars |
China's Huawei is negotiating to acquire the electric vehicle business from a small local auto maker, according to Reuters, in what is seen as a strategic move for the world's largest telecom equipment manufacturer.
Affected by US sanctions, Huawei is negotiating with carmaker Sukon for a majority stake in Jinkang New Energy, the maker of electric passenger cars.
This move allows Huawei to create smart cars under its name. It's also the first evidence that Huawei is looking for ways to go beyond the mere adoption of automobile operating systems and gain a global impact in the electric vehicle industry.
The push toward smart cars may indicate that Huawei's business focus has changed dramatically after two years of sanctions in the US, restricting access to the major supply chain and forcing it to sell a portion of the smartphone business.
To confirm the change, Huawei announced at the Shanghai Auto Show earlier this month that it had reached an agreement with three Chinese auto makers to provide the Huawei Inside Smart Car OS.
As Huawei moves to electric cars, technology companies like Xiaomi are ramping up their efforts in the world's largest market for these vehicles, as Beijing is actively promoting green vehicles to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
With consumer demand for smart electric cars increasing dramatically since the middle of last year, this path has become clear for the tech giants.
Although they have many years of success and experience in the smartphone market, it will take several years for an acceptable car brand to be established in the electric vehicle field.
As part of the deal, Huawei also plans to acquire unspecified shares in privately owned Sukon Holdings, the largest shareholder in Shanghai-listed Sucon.
Richard Yu, who has made Huawei one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world, is negotiating with Sokon. Huawei hopes to close the deal as soon as possible in July.
Huawei is also trying to control ArcFox, an electric vehicle brand from BAIC, which recently released the Alpha S model with the Huawei Inside System. However, BAIC is more concerned with Huawei being just a minority shareholder in ArcFox.
Reuters reported in February that Huawei plans to produce electric cars under its own brand and may launch some models this year.
By 2025, sales of new energy vehicles, including battery electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, are expected to account for 20% of total annual vehicle sales in China.
Over the past few months, Huawei has played an integral role in the operation and manufacture of its Sukon and West Series divisions. As part of this partnership, the first prototype of the Seres division, called the SF5, appeared at the Shanghai Auto Show. It received more than 3,000 applications in two days. Day - day.
The Huawei SF5 sells in stores across China, including its online store, VMall.com.
Huawei plans to launch the first smart car under its brand as soon as possible before the end of this year and has high expectations for the SF5-based model in development, but the current supply chain is working hard to meet those expectations. .