Ren Zhengfei: Huawei employees worked day and night during the epidemic, and the motivation behind this was a sense of mission

In a recent interview, Ren Zhengfei said that most of Huawei's employees have returned to work after the outbreak of the new coronavirus epidemic.

It is reported that Ren Zhengfei said in the latest interview that the epidemic broke out globally, and Huawei's employees have been working day and night to ensure uninterrupted network connection, because Huawei is the world's largest telecommunications equipment supplier and China's largest smartphone manufacturer. The motivation behind this is a sense of mission.

Ren Zhengfei said Huawei has resumed more than 90% of its production and development operations, adding that the company has provided protective equipment to partners to keep production lines running normally, thereby ensuring that most of the supply chain is intact.

Huawei's maintenance service personnel around the world have also been working hard to ensure that communications are not interrupted. "As the epidemic spreads, the world needs (even more) Internet services," said Ren Zhengfei. Although the European market has been severely affected by the new coronavirus epidemic, Ren Zhengfei expects that demand for network equipment in Europe will remain strong as people need online services.

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More than 20,000 scientists, experts and engineers are working overtime during the Spring Festival as we rush to develop new (technologies), Ren Zhengfei said. The work being done "will make us stand out in the global competition."

To maintain innovation, sufficient R&D expenses are needed. Ren Zhengfei revealed that Huawei plans to increase its R&D budget by US$5.8 billion in 2020, and their total R&D expenses this year will exceed US$20 billion (higher than last year's US$15 billion), equivalent to more than RMB 142.1 billion (Huawei's annual revenue in 2019 reached 850 billion yuan. If this is the case, Huawei's annual R&D investment is expected to account for 16.7% of the previous year's revenue).

Huawei is still very confident about its 5G technological strength. Yang Chaobin, president of the company's 5G product line, once said that Huawei has been investing in 5G technology research for more than 10 years and is at least 12 to 18 months ahead of its peers in 5G, making it the world's largest 5G manufacturer.

In addition, Huawei has already taken action on 6G networks. Ren Zhengfei also talked about 6G technology, claiming that "we are also leading the world in 6G research, but we believe that 6G will not be put into use until ten years later (Huawei's laboratory in Ottawa, Canada has already started developing 6G network technology). Therefore, the transfer of technology is not the end of our progress. We will make greater strides forward after we obtain funding."

Ren Zhengfei said that Huawei is the world's largest telecommunications equipment supplier and China's largest smartphone manufacturer, and the motivation behind this is a sense of mission. "If we cannot develop our own technology, we will not be able to lead the world in the next three to five years. For Huawei, completely de-Americanization will be "impossible". American companies also need (Huawei as a customer) to survive. No one can be separated from globalization."