Huawei re-orgs to formalize business PC sales

Consumer kit now sits under business dedicated to 'terminals' and alongside B2B org

Huawei CEO Yu Chengdong has announced the company will create a business PC unit and is "fully entering the commercial field."

To date, Huawei has focused its PC business squarely on consumers. But last week, a post to Chinese social network QQ revealed that the company has rolled its consumer PC business into a new organization that will also sell to commercial clients, with a focus on serving government and enterprise.

The Chinese tech giant said it is developing industry-specific solutions, including those in education, medical, manufacturing, transportation, finance and energy.

Huawei's line-up of business products covers notebooks, desktops, monitors, tablets, printers, smart screens, and wearables.

Huawei has devised its own Arm-based Kunpeng CPU and builds motherboards to host it – and offers both only in China. The company hasn't said whether or not Kunpeng designs will lead the new operation's efforts.

Beijing-based outlet Pandaily reported Huawei's devices have already found their way to over 25,000 governmental and enterprise customers in China, even without particularly targeting that market.

The shift in strategy is seen as a way for Huawei to find more customers and revenue sources, after its consumer smartphone and server businesses sank beneath US sanctions and its carrier business suffered from several bans.

Sanctions not only closed the door on Huawei's access to US chips, they also prevented Huawei from selling its tech in products in the US.

The sanctions have undeniably taken a toll. Revenues dropped 28.5 per cent year-on-year between 2020 and 2021. The Chinese telecom giant has attempted to keep a cheery face through it all, despite having to sell off parts of its business – including both its server x86 segment and low-end Honor handset unit – to stay profitable and relevant.

Twitter sold to @ElonMusk. We stand 💯 behind a free marketplace. Oh, wait...we can't do business here in the USA 🙃

— HuaweiUSA (@HuaweiUSA) April 25, 2022

As for the new product line, it includes the MateBook B – a business version of the MateBook X. Both feature a recessed camera hidden underneath a function key that The Register recently found rather unsatisfactory. ®