China-based Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, which has a strategic partnership with regional telecommunications major etisalat to roll out the advanced fourth generation long-term evolution frequency-division duplexing (4G LTE-FDD) network in the UAE and to bring 85 per cent of the country under the network in 2013, says it plans to ship up to 60 million smart phones this year. “About 35 per cent of this, would be consumed in China. We were number 4 in Android phones last year and this year, aim to be number 3 in the world," Shao Yang, CMO, Device at Huawei told visiting reporters from the UAE at a manufacturing facility in a recent interaction. “Our smart phone shipment was 20 million in 2011 and 3 million in 2010." He said before 2011, Huawei was known as a low-end phone maker but since then, that perception has radically changed. Shao said Huawei currently has over 50 per cent in the global mobile broadband market. “We are aiming to be the world's top three phone brands by 2016," said Shao, adding Huawei's Gold series, Windows 8 device is set for a global launch at Las Vegas in January 2013, which would have features like longer battery life. “Our products are available through operators, on the open market and through e-commerce," said Shao. Huawei annually invests an average of 10 per cent of its revenue into research and development (R&D). It aims to be the No. 3 smartphone vendor in the world with 15 per cent market share by 2015. Huawei is currently the world's sixth-biggest maker of mobile phones. In the Middle East, Huawei's 2011 consumer sales revenue was $175 million, and its 2012 annual sales target is $200 million. The Middle East is one of the fastest growing regions worldwide for Huawei with regional contract sales across the Middle East in 2011 totalling $3.22 billion, a 20 per cent increase from the previous year. Etisalat was the first in the region to launch the 4G LTE-FDD in 2011 in collaboration with Huawei. The first phase of the project covered around 80 per cent of the populated areas in the country with close to 1,000 stations. Etisalat now plans to increase the number of stations to extend its 4G coverage in the populated areas and strengthen the internal coverage for buildings, malls and airports, in addition to other key buildings. As for the 3G network, Etisalat currently covers around 99.8 per cent of populated areas with more than 5,500 stations. “Etisalat will continue to expand its 3G network in conjunction with the second phase of the LTE project," the Abu Dhabi-based company said previously. Huawei an employee-owned private company, has established end-to-end capabilities across the carrier networks, enterprise and consumer markets by providing competitive solutions and services, which have been deployed in over 150 countries serving more than one-third of the world's population. Gulf News
