Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has announced that it will compete with Amazon and Alibaba as a global provider of public cloud services.
The Shenzhen-based outfit said it will expand in cloud computing with a dedicated division that will recruit 2,000 more people this year.
President of the new unit, Zheng Yelai, said that Huawei used to focus on private cloud and did well.
“Now the purpose is to strengthen our public cloud offering.”
Consultancy Gartner expects the market for public cloud services to reach $383 billion by 2020 from $247 billion in this year.
Huawei hopes to continue developing software-based revenue at a time of slowing growth in smartphone sales and reduced spending on telecommunication infrastructure.
In China, its biggest rival is Alibaba Cloud, while the latest market entrant is conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group Co Ltd in partnership with Big Blue.
Huawei deputy chairman Eric Xu said the company’s global network of telecoms clients give the firm a unique advantage.
“I believe we can build upon our advantages accumulated over the years,” Xu said, referring to carrier partnerships in Europe and a strong presence in developing countries. Compete and coexist with AWS and Microsoft, I believe that is the trend we are going to see.” Xu said.
Xu also said Huawei would not compete for market share by offering services at extremely low prices.
“Our strategic focus will be on our telecom partners’ cloud transformation”, Xu said.
