Huawei plans to build R&D center in South Korea

Following Huawei's opening of the world's first 5G OpenLab in South Korea, Huawei is evaluating the possibility of establishing a research and development center in South Korea, with the results to be released in the first half of next year.

According to Korean media inews24, Huawei Korea CEO Meng Shaoyun said in an interview that Huawei has grown together with many Korean partners in the past few years and established a deep relationship of trust. The first phase of 5G OpenLab will invest 5 million US dollars, and then a comprehensive evaluation will be conducted. The evaluation results of the R&D center will be released in the first half of next year.

Huawei opened a 5G OpenLab in South Korea on May 30 and worked with South Korean SMEs to develop a 5G platform. Regarding the operation of the laboratory, Meng Shaoyun said that in the more than 100 days since its establishment, the 5G OpenLab has been open to more than 50 visits and trained more than 130 people. In addition, Huawei has also cooperated with 9 South Korean companies and signed memorandums of understanding (MOU) with 3 of them.

Huawei has also recently been actively discussing with Korean small and medium-sized enterprises the possibility of entering the Chinese market. Meng Shaoyun hopes that the two sides can further cooperate and extend their business to the Asia-Pacific region, prompting Huawei to break away from the simple verification business and promote Huawei services overseas.

It is worth noting that compared with Huawei's global revenue, South Korea's revenue accounts for only 0.4%, so Huawei's investment has attracted a lot of attention. Inews24 pointed out that in fact, South Korea is a major place for Huawei to purchase parts. In the past four years, Huawei has purchased parts worth 25 trillion won in South Korea. Huawei once said that the purchase scale last year alone was as high as 12 trillion won.

Huawei's partners in South Korea include not only large companies such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and LG Display, but also many small and medium-sized enterprises. Even though Huawei is currently embroiled in a trade dispute with the United States, it has established a trusting relationship with South Korean companies. Therefore, although Huawei's revenue performance in South Korea is not impressive, it still attaches great importance to the Korean market.

In the display business, a recent report by Hana Financial Management Research Institute pointed out that small OLEDs may be in oversupply within three years, and the response of companies is very important. KTB Investment Securities researcher Kim Yang-jae pointed out that companies in the Chinese region will start mass production of OLED panels this year, which may affect their performance next year.