Huawei‘s situation in Europe is quite worrying. The company that was for a time the global technology giant today finds itself between a rock and a hard place in the face of a series of sanctions that have generated catastrophic consequences, such as store closures, layoffs and very disappointing sales numbers, what does the future hold for it? future to the brand?
Since Donald Trump vetoed the Asian company, Huawei has had its hands completely tied. The fact of not having Google services is a differentiating factor for users, who bet on other manufacturers that include them along with Android. So the organization’s global options are practically nil, since US policy has left it in checkmate in the European market.
Huawei: chronicle of a death foretold
Everything seems to indicate that the only salvation of the brand lies in the national market, that is, China. Globalization became impossible after the US restrictions, since not only can they not get access to Google applications and the Android operating system, but also it is not possible to take advantage of 5G connectivity on Snapdragon processors, which, in At first, they were not allowed either.
The entity itself has not mentioned the status of Huawei globally, but the omen is not positive at all. Many high-ranking employees have left the team in recent years, as well as the closure of offices and stores in Europe. The latter are only present in Madrid and Barcelona and are under threat of closing in the next year 2023.
This is completely logical, since Huawei’s smartphone sales market share has gone from 30% to just 1% . At first they were ambitious with these establishments, which opened their doors after the veto, although it makes no sense for them to remain open if nobody buys any of their mobiles. In fact, a large part of their numbers are due to computers and smart watches , which are increasingly present in Spain.
On the other hand, Huawei phones do not enjoy the same context. Fewer and fewer terminals reach our territory . Just take a look at those presented throughout 2022. The last of them has been the top of the range Huawei Mate 50 Pro, but we have not even seen the standard version of the device first-hand, which has remained in China. Regarding the entry or medium range, we hardly have launches here, since most prefer to bet on any other brand.
A new hope?
To be honest, Huawei’s status in the European market is not encouraging. There was an iota of illusion when Donald Trump was succeeded by Joe Biden as US President, but the latter didn’t change the movie either. Although it is true that it relaxed certain measures, but the prohibitions were still present.
Given what has been seen so far and in recent years, I am afraid that Huawei smartphones do not have long to live outside of China, where they continue to enjoy extreme popularity. However, in Spain there are fewer and fewer smartphones under its seal and this is also extrapolated to the rest of Europe. It is undeniable that they have potential, but the ballast of Android and Google is a setback from which the company can hardly get up. Now the computers, speakers, smartwatches and other accessories under the Huawei seal seem to be the great attraction of the company.