Shanghai (AFP)

The founder of the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei called on his employees to accelerate the diversification of the group, targeted by US sanctions which have severely penalized its sales of smartphones to the point of throwing it off the world podium of the largest sellers of phones.

The telecoms juggernaut has been at the center of the Sino-American rivalry for several years, against the backdrop of a trade and technological war between the two leading world powers.

Washington placed it on a blacklist in 2019, which results in Huawei no longer being able to access American technologies for its products - in particular the microchips essential for its phones.

This situation weighed heavily on Huawei's sales.

In an internal note to his employees consulted by AFP, the founder of Huawei, Ren Zhengfei calls for an all-out transformation of his group and to accelerate autonomy in software.

Thus, "the United States will have very little control over our future development", writes the number 1 of the group in a document which repeats statements already made last month.

At the same time, Huawei announced on Tuesday that its new in-house operating system, dubbed HarmonyOS, would be available on all its phones globally as of June 2.

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Due to the sanctions, Huawei is deprived on its phones of Android updates, owned by the American Google.

And the Chinese group was suddenly forced to develop its own system.

"Attack is the best defense," argued Ren Zhengfei, promising to provide Huawei phone users with a new operating system that "adapts and embraces the world."

The American sanctions are also pushing the firm based in Shenzhen (southern China) to accelerate its diversification in sectors ranging from dematerialized computing ("cloud") to activities related to 5G technology, including intelligent vehicles.

In the first quarter, Huawei's sales in China fell 50% year-on-year, according to a study by Canalys, published last month.

In its market, the group is now ahead of its compatriots Vivo and Oppo but remains ahead of the American Apple.

Former number one in the sector, Huawei, also separated last November from Honor, its entry-level smartphone brand.

© 2021 AFP