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  • February 2018 (Revised September 2018)
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Huawei: How Can We Lead the Way?

By: Elie Ofek, Tian Tao, Eden Yin and Nancy Hua Dai
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:31
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Abstract

On September 12, 2017, just as Apple’s Tim Cook was unveiling the iPhone X, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group (CBG), and Glory Cheung, his Chief Marketing Officer, were discussing some key strategic issues regarding Huawei’s smartphone business. Established in 1987, Huawei was the largest telecom equipment company in the world. Huawei established the CBG in 2012 to focus on Huawei-branded smartphone models and within five years had risen to be the No. 3 player in the market in terms of shipments—next only to Apple and Samsung. As they finished watching Cook’s presentation, Yu and Cheung thought about the Mate 10 series, Huawei’s most advanced smartphone that would be launched on October 16, 2017, in Germany. The new models would include Huawei’s proprietary Kirin 970 chipset, which boasted having the world’s first artificial intelligence (AI) mobile processor. They had to decide how to position, communicate, and price the new phones. Yet beyond these near-term decisions, a major challenge facing Huawei was how to make good on Yu’s bold vision to overtake Apple and Samsung in market share within three to five years, while maintaining healthy profits. This task seemed particularly daunting given the difficulties the company had encountered in penetrating the lucrative U.S. market. What would it take for Huawei to be the number one smartphone brand globally?

Keywords

Product Launch; Product Positioning; Marketing Communications; Price; Competitive Strategy; Global Strategy

Citation

Ofek, Elie, Tian Tao, Eden Yin, and Nancy Hua Dai. "Huawei: How Can We Lead the Way?" Harvard Business School Case 518-071, February 2018. (Revised September 2018.)
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About The Author

Elie Ofek

Marketing
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Related Work

    • May 2018
    • Faculty Research

    Huawei: How Can We Lead the Way?

    By: Elie Ofek
    • February 2018 (Revised September 2018)
    • Faculty Research

    Huawei: How Can We Lead the Way?

    By: Elie Ofek, Tian Tao, Eden Yin and Nancy Hua Dai
Related Work
  • Huawei: How Can We Lead the Way? By: Elie Ofek
  • Huawei: How Can We Lead the Way? By: Elie Ofek, Tian Tao, Eden Yin and Nancy Hua Dai
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