During MWC, Huawei makes it clear that it has not given up on Europe and wants to bring its smartphones with the HarmonyOS operating system back to our region.

Huawei is doing better and better. After several difficult years, the Chinese tech giant announced earlier this year that things would return to “normal.” The latest flagship Mate 60 Pro, which surprised friends and foes, proved that Huawei’s smartphone department is also running at full speed again. It’s been several years since Huawei launched a new smartphone in Europe, but for Gert-Jan Van Eck, COO of the company’s Dutch division, that door isn’t quite closed yet.

At a round table with journalists from the Benelux, Van Eck immediately made it clear that this comeback was not imminent. “In Europe, consumers are excited about Android and iOS, making it difficult to convince them to join a new ecosystem. To do this, we also need the support of developers to provide consumers with a full range of applications. So yes, we certainly want to sell smartphones in Europe again in the long term, but we are still trying to figure out when and how.”

In Europe, consumers are addicted to Android and iOS, making it difficult to convince them to join a new ecosystem.

Gert-Jan Van Eck, COO Huawei Netherlands

Get out of the valley

The trade restrictions imposed by Washington meant that Huawei could no longer work with American partners at both the hardware and software levels. Huawei smartphones released after 2020 often ran on outdated hardware, but the disappearance of Google apps in particular hurt the smartphone industry in international markets. The manufacturer appeared to be on track to become the most popular brand in 2020, but quickly fell out of the top seller rankings after that.

As a (forced) response to the restrictions, Huawei launched its own operating system, Harmony OS, in 2021 and entered into partnerships with Chinese chipmakers. In the home market of China, this paid off: According to data from Counterpoint Research, Huawei was the fastest-growing smartphone brand in 2023. But in order to really be able to keep up with the top sellers (Samsung and Apple), Harmony OS also has to assert itself in other markets.

“Perception changes”

Huawei wants to make a big appearance at MWC, and this year is no different. The company sees the conference as an ideal opportunity to remind Europe that it is still here. These were not wasted efforts, Van Eck notes.

“Because of our position, we have to do more than other companies in stakeholder management in order to be a ‘normal’ company,” he said during the roundtable. “That’s just the reality we’ve had to deal with, but we feel like the perception around us is changing in a positive way again. We can ensure that we comply with local laws in each country in which we operate. If that wasn’t the case, it would be over for us long ago.”