Leap of Huawei in Korea

 

Huawei Korea is going to double its size through a large-scale recruitment drive in order to expand its wireless business.

According to industry sources on February 3, Huawei, the top-ranked communications equipment supplier, is expected to launch a new offensive this year by hiring a large number of project managers and sales personnel through headhunters, after entering the local telecommunications equipment market in 2013.

Huawei is devoting itself to recruiting skilled workers who will be in charge of constructing  LG U+ base stations, the order for which it obtained last year, and providing follow-up services. Last year, the Chinese firm obtained an equipment order for 2.6 GHz base stations, beating Ericsson-LG, the largest equipment supplier for LG U+. Now, it is facing a turning point in Korea.

In particular, the equipment maker is spreading the Huawei Wave, with its penetration of the local telecommunications equipment and mobile device markets, which was considered to be impossible owing to Koreans’ aversion to Chinese products and security issues. In the past, the company posted sales mainly of wired telecommunications equipment such as transmission equipment, picocells, and switches. However, wireless equipment began to represent an increased share of its business in the second half of last year. Thus, the firm is currently hiring professionals related to the field.

The company plans to double the size of its local branch and strengthen its wireless business unit within the year. About 80 people are working in Huawei Korea, and an additional 70 Japanese and Chinese workers have been dispatched to the local branch to support the construction of the base station for LG U+. The equipment supplier is planning to replace the dispatched manpower with Koreans and to increase its investment in the equipment business for base stations. Since the Chinese firm entered the local telecommunications equipment market with difficulty, it is seeking to obtain orders from other local mobile carriers as well.

Huawei’s aggressive investment in the country can be ascribed to its good performance, as evidenced in its 100% year-on-year growth as it carried out the  LG U+ project in 2013.

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