For national security reasons, China Champion was blacklisted by the United States in 20 19, which cut off its access to many important parts and hindered its global smartphone sales. In the last three months of 2020, its smartphone sales decreased by 465,438+0% compared with the same period of last year.
However, despite the pressure from the United States, Huawei has stepped up its innovation. Guo Fulin, president of Huawei's international media affairs, told the Financial Times that by the end of 2020, the company had more than100000 valid patents, higher than the 85000 valid patents at the end of 20019, which was the biggest annual growth in the company's history. .
As the largest patent holder in China, Huawei holds a large proportion of patents in the field of telecommunication equipment, especially in the field of 5G technology, which dominates the global standard. Analysts said that the company also applied for patents on video surveillance technology and other forms of artificial intelligence technology.
Huawei's strategy is consistent with Beijing's need to improve its technological self-reliance. Wang Zhigang, Minister of Science and Technology, said last year that China needs to "improve its independent innovation capability and do its own thing well, because we can't ask for or buy core technologies from other places".
Huawei is the main patent applicant of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIP) under the United Nations. By 2020, according to the Patent Cooperation Treaty of the World Intellectual Property Organization, it has applied for 5,464 patents, and South Korea's Samsung is the second largest applicant with 3,093 patents. Mitsubishi electric, South Korean LG Electronics and Qualcomm are also among the best.
Francis Gurry, former director-general of the World Intellectual Property Organization, said at the Huawei conference on Tuesday that two-thirds of the world's intellectual property applications were initiated by Asian companies, which aggravated the tension with the United States.
"For a long time, the fields of innovation and intellectual property were only in North America, while Japan appeared around 1980. Now this is a multi-polar innovation situation, "Gary said.
By the end of 2020, Huawei had105,000 R&D personnel, accounting for 53.4% of the company's total employees. The total R&D investment of the company is RMB 1, 310.70 billion yuan, accounting for 15.3% of the company's annual income. A company executive said that R&D expenditure will increase in 2020, but did not disclose any details.