Huawei to invest $3.1 billion in Italy and lay off 1,000 employees in the U.S.

According to Reuters, on July 15, Thomas Miao, CEO of Huawei's Italian branch, said that Huawei will invest US$3.1 billion in Italy in the next three years and create 1,000 new jobs. He also urged the Italian government to ensure fair policies for the development of 5G networks.

In addition, Miao Xiaoyang also confirmed that day that Huawei will lay off 1,000 employees in the U.S. He said that if Huawei is still blacklisted by the U.S. in August, they also have a "Plan B" to ensure the supply of parts.

On July 15, Miao Xiaoyang spoke at an event in Milan, Italy @IC Photo

“Italian government’s ‘golden powers’ should apply to all players”

As Huawei confirmed its increase in investment in Italy, Italian government sources said on the 12th that the country has recently strengthened the use of its "golden power" over the private sector, partly due to concerns that Huawei and ZTE may be involved in the development of the country's 5G network.

The "Golden Powers Act" gives the Italian government special state powers, allowing the government to intervene in the private sector to protect the country's "strategic industries" in order to "defend national security."

On March 22, Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development, Labor and Social Policies Di Maio said that the government is expanding the promotion of "golden power" to 5G, which will allow the Italian government to control participants entering its 5G telecommunications market in the next few years. It is worth noting that this clause is aimed at "non-EU member state entities."

Miao Xiaoyang said in his speech on the 15th that Huawei will invest US$3.1 billion in Italy in the next three years and create 1,000 new jobs, but he urged the Italian government to ensure that its "golden power" is used "transparently, effectively and fairly" in the development of 5G networks, and applies to all suppliers, not just non-EU companies.

"It is very important to remain neutral on 5G technology," Miao said, adding that new rules should "apply to all participants to ensure that we have a safe and reliable infrastructure from day one."

He also asked the Italian government to speed up the approval process for relevant bills. "In the worst case, it may take 165 days for the 5G-related bill to be approved," Miao Xiaoyang told reporters, which is too long.

According to Reuters, Telecom Italia and Vodafone Italy are expected to soon finalize an agreement to jointly launch 5G infrastructure in Italy. Now, both companies are waiting for the decree to decide how to deal with Chinese partners such as Huawei.

Huawei Italy Chairman Luigi De Vecchis (left) and CEO Miao Xiaoyang (right) @IC Photo

Huawei to lay off 1,000 employees in the US

In addition to confirming that Huawei will invest in Italy, Miao Xiaoyang also confirmed on the 15th that Huawei will lay off 1,000 employees in the United States.

On the 14th, the Wall Street Journal quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that Huawei is planning to lay off a large number of employees in its US business department, which is expected to affect Huawei's US R&D subsidiary Futurewei Technologies. The subsidiary has a total of about 850 employees in research laboratories in Texas, California, Washington and other places.

The exact number of layoffs is still unknown, and Huawei declined to comment, the report said.

A person familiar with the matter said the number of layoffs could reach hundreds. Another person familiar with the matter said some Chinese employees in the United States could choose to return home and continue to work at Huawei. They said several employees had received layoff notices and more layoffs might be announced soon.

The people also said that after the U.S. Commerce Department's May 16 decision to add Huawei to the so-called "Entity List," communication between Futurewei employees and colleagues at Huawei's headquarters in China was restricted.

Screenshot of the Wall Street Journal report

After the closing of the G20 Osaka Summit on the 29th of last month, Trump said at a press conference that the United States sold "huge quantities" of products to Huawei, and that American companies were "quite dissatisfied" about not being able to sell their products. American companies could continue to sell "equipment that does not involve major national emergencies" to Huawei.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on the 9th that if U.S. national security is "not threatened," companies will be issued licenses to do business with Huawei, but Huawei is still on the U.S. "Entity List." At the same time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has been urging U.S. suppliers to apply for export licenses to Huawei as soon as possible.

Source: Guanchazhe.com. If copyright is involved, please contact us to delete it.

Focus on industry hot spots and understand the latest frontiers

Please pay attention to EEWorld electronic headlines

https://www.eeworld.com.cn/mp/wap

Copy this link to your browser or long press the QR code below to browse

The following WeChat public accounts belong to

EEWorld (www.eeworld.com.cn)

Welcome to long press the QR code to follow us!

EEWorld Subscription Account: Electronic Engineering World

EEWorld Service Account: Electronic Engineering World Welfare Club