For genius boys, the annual income is 30 million yen! -Huawei Strikes Back October 2 15:47

“New adoption of“ genius boy ”with annual income of 30 million yen”
This is the story of Huawei, a major Chinese communications equipment company. Huawei receives tightening from the United States against the backdrop of trade disputes such as trade friction. I think that it is weak, but on the contrary, I am trying to strengthen R & D and counter it. We visited the development site of a noteworthy Chinese company, where the United States was cautioned by name. (Guangzhou branch reporter Takeo Baba / Director of International Economic Affairs, Keisuke Aoki)

“Behind the brink of death”

“Our company is on the verge of surviving. We will overcome the most critical period in history, create a new army and conquer the world.”

Huawei founder Ninosho Non-CEO showed a strong sense of crisis in an email for employees in August.

The background is American pressure. In May, the US government tightened tightening, such as banning domestic companies from dealing with Huawei without government permission, because of security concerns.

As a result, overseas sales of smartphones have declined, and this year's sales are expected to be 1 trillion yen lower than expected.

“R & D costs are 1.5 times that of Toyota”

“Enhancing R & D” is what Huawei in adversity is tackling as a countermeasure.

Last year, Huawei was the world's number one in the number of international patent applications. Research and development costs were 1.5 trillion yen in the last year, 1.5 times that of Toyota Motor Corporation.

This time, a special camera entered the R & D scene. He was introduced to research facilities in Guangdong and Shanghai related to Huawei's next-generation communication standard “5G”.

In the futuristic room that appears in SF movies, there is a facility that measures the electromagnetic waves emitted by 5G communication equipment. It is an epoch-making device that increases the measurement efficiency by 20 times, and it can be expected to greatly shorten the product development period.

Developments to accelerate the spread of 5G were also underway. Development was underway to reduce the weight of materials used in base stations, which are indispensable for 5G communications, to a quarter of the previous weight.

The weight of the parts is so light that a woman can carry it with one hand, which reduces the labor and cost of installation.

Ms. Honghua, the head of the market for wireless communications products, talked with us confidently.

“Our 5G technology is one or two years ahead of our competitors. If you choose another company, the 5G maintenance will be delayed.”

80,000 highly educated researchers

What impressed me was the researchers who guided me through the facility. All of them were young engineers in their 20s and 30s who had doctoral degrees from famous universities such as the UK and Hong Kong. At Huawei, successful technology development means that the name of the technology is prefixed with the English name of the developer.

A female engineer spoke with enthusiasm that "someday I want to develop a technique with my name."

In addition, a male engineer who has studied abroad at the University of Tokyo and is fluent in Japanese, said, “Huawei ’s research environment is the best and our goal is to develop global products.”

Huawei has 80,000 such researchers. Nearly half of all 180,000 employees are returning home from overseas studying, and they play an important role.

“Genius boys” from all over the world

Furthermore, we are currently focusing on recruiting “genius boys” who have obtained Ph.D. Kotori has revealed a policy of recruiting 20-30 people from around the world and 200-300 next year.

Huawei's in-house document reported by the Chinese media details the eight newly hired “genius boys”. All of them are doctoral graduates, with an annual income of up to 30 million yen (RMB 2.1 million), an exceptional treatment.

(Chief CEO) “We will hire thousands of high-level human resources, especially genius boys and doctors who have just graduated. They will fill the holes that were prohibited from dealing with the United States.”

Global development of 5G technology and AI

While the United States calls for exclusion, each country is paying attention to Huawei's movement to strengthen research and development.

In June, the largest mobile-related exhibition in Asia, held in Shanghai, attracted governments and business people from various countries at the Huawei booth for 5G technology.

Huawei is steadily promoting 5G sales, and as of September, it has contracted with companies in 30 countries including Korea, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia.

A representative from a Japanese company said, “Huawei is 20% cheaper than other companies. High technology and low price are attractive.”

Huawei is also aiming for global expansion with AI = Artificial Intelligence. A monitoring system called “Safe City” was appealing at a presentation held in Shanghai in September. With countless surveillance cameras and face recognition technology, it is said that suspicious people can be found immediately.

“A call to eliminate the Huawei in the United States does not affect our business. We just use good things” from a number of people from Africa and the Middle East who visited us.

How do you face each other? Japanese company

While the United States calls for exclusion, the use of Huawei products is spreading in emerging and developing countries. European advanced countries are also adopting 5G, not monoliths.

How are Japanese companies facing each other? Many companies are becoming cautious about using Huawei products. In response to government policy, the three major Japanese telecommunications companies have not adopted Huawei for 5G maintenance.

Even in this situation, I visited a venture company in Tokyo, “Telegistance”. The company is developing technology to synchronize movements and senses between remote robots and people.

5G is indispensable for transferring large amounts of data, and we have started to cooperate in view of the expansion in China. Tomioka Hitoshi talks about his aim.

“Price competitiveness, including 5G technology, is attractive. We need to think about the political situation, but since we are a venture company, we want to continue to interact in a calm and warm manner.”

In order not to delay 5G maintenance

When I started the interview, I thought that Huawei was considerably weakened by American pressure. However, the engineer's remarks are bullish, starting with the CEO. The exhibition hall was also crowded with visitors from abroad.

On the other hand, the confrontation between the US government and Huawei about product safety continues to be unclear.

What should Japan do to prevent delays in 5G maintenance while ensuring safety as the movement to adopt Huawei technology spreads around 5G?

In order to counter the tightening in the United States, we saw the movement of Huawei accelerating research and development, and once again realized that Japanese companies were forced to make difficult decisions.

Guangzhou branch reporter Takeo Baba Joined in 2007 Akita Broadcasting Station, Nagoya Broadcasting Station, International Department and then Guangzhou Branch Office

Mr. Kosuke Aoki, Director, Masakei / International Program Department After entering Tokushima Broadcasting Station in 2009, Masakei / International Program Department