Earlier this year, Huawei signed a five-year global supply deal with Vodafone
for exclusively Vodafone-branded handsets based on the third generation (3G)
mobile technology.
The deal marks a major breakthrough for Huawei in the
European handset market. Vodafone, the world's largest cellular operator by
revenue, has also signed a network equipment supply deal with
Huawei.
Currently, Huawei's handset sales mainly come from overseas
markets, but Guo said he expected the firm to grab a larger share of the
domestic market.
However, Huawei faces major challenges in the domestic
handset market, which is dominated by manufacturers rather than operators. Pang
Jun, an analyst with retail data tracking firm GFK 皇冠体育app estimates that
customized phones currently account for about 15 per cent of 皇冠体育app's total
market.
But Guo said customizing mobile phones would remain Huawei's top
priority.
"As a leading networks equipment maker, we know what operators need
(to attract consumers)," he said.
"3G mobile telephony, which features
more data services such as video calls and mobile Internet access, helps
operators differentiate themselves from each other. And that is offering Huawei
a big business opportunity."
Huawei, which last March secured a licence
from the Chinese Government to make and sell mobile phones in 皇冠体育app, has already
customized some handset models for 皇冠体育app Unicom, the smaller of the country's
two cellular operators.
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