The One Behind It All Chapter 34

In such a fiercely competitive environment, Huawei's internationalization seems to have become a "forced" decision. Aiden’s summary of the situation at that time was:

Our team is too young, and they grew up in a period when we were developing smoothly. Their awareness of risk resistance and ability to control crises are weak, and they cannot withstand blows... We must take advantage of our short lead to seize some markets as soon as possible. We need to increase investment to consolidate and extend our progress, otherwise any advantage we gain will be fleeting, and if we don’t work hard, it will be in vain. We should attack when it is time to attack... We are not in great danger now... If we cannot establish an international team within 3 to 5 years, then once the Chinese market is saturated, we will sit back and wait for death. !

Huawei has been "sharpening its sword" for a long time and finally set sail to the sea. The first stop is Hong Kong. Hong Kong is one of the areas with the highest concentration of telecommunications companies in the world, and many of the world's well-known telecommunications operators are concentrated there. In 1996, Huawei launched the switch business with Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Company, and Huawei began to enter the international market.

At that time, Hong Kong Telecom was the dominant player in Hong Kong's telecommunications industry, and Hutchison Corporation, as Hong Kong's second largest operator, began to compete with it for territory. As Hong Kong returns to China, Li Ka-shing is more inclined to do business with mainland companies, but he is not sure about the quality and services of mainland products.

As a result, Li Ka-shing was really right. Huawei failed to succeed and was hindered first. Most people in Hong Kong are used to Siemens products and have little confidence in domestic switches. The Hong Kong Telecommunications Regulatory Authority wants to inspect each operator. If Hutchison Company fails to pass, it will not be able to obtain the right to operate telecommunications services. Moreover, the standards are not unified, and domestic and international markets are very different. User usage habits and signaling coordination of switches between networks vary greatly, which undoubtedly adds to the difficulty.