Huawei, once "China's Number One Mobile Phone," has gradually retreated from the mobile phone market due to US sanctions and has turned to solar energy and energy storage projects. Huawei Deputy Chairman, Guo Ping, stated at the 2022 Mobile World Congress (MWC) that digitalization and carbon neutrality are the hottest topics in the world and companies need to consider new ideas for carbon reduction.

According to the Huawei booth at the expo, Huawei specializes in network technologies that reduce carbon footprints and develops systems that help companies decarbonize but the company is uncertain whether it will ever recover its growth ability after heavy losses were sustained in its mobile phone business.

It has been reported that Huawei has made progress in markets such as the Middle East and won a bid from the Dubai government to build a data center for solar power generation. According to Chinese media reports, this facility is expected to open in May, making it one of the largest local low-carbon data centers.

In October last year, Huawei also won an order for the world's largest energy storage project in Saudi Arabia, as the Saudi government plans to build a zero-emission city entirely powered by renewable energy along the Red Sea coast.

Huawei has invested RMB4 billion in Shenzhen to establish a digital energy headquarters and R&D base to conduct technology R&D for online monitoring of energy consumption, energy recovery system R&D, and improve the efficiency of telecom operators and networks. In addition to this, Huawei controls the solar inverter industry and holds various 5G patents.

After US sanctions, Huawei has comprehensively reformed its business model and the focus of its consumer products has also shifted from smartphones to electric vehicles. However, executives believe that the electric vehicle business may not be profitable in the short-term, so the low-carbon business is the company’s new profit target.

(Image: Huawei)