Huawei to expand European retail presence despite US hampering
Saeed Pourreza
Press TV, London
The announcement was made by Walter Ji, Huawei’s president of consumer business group in Europe at Berlin’s IFA electronics fair.
‘’By end of this year, we plan to have eight flagship stores in Europe across Spain, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany and the UK’’.
When implemented, the plan includes expanding Huawei’s physical retail presence across the continent to eight flagship stores and 42 so-called "experience stores", spread across Spain, France, Belgium, Italy, Germany and the UK.
It all comes more than a year since Washington cut off Huawei's access to US components and technology, and has continued to push Europe to bar the Chinese firm from their 5G networks, claiming it poses a national security threat.
A vivid example of the US pressure on European countries came in the form of a complete about-face by the UK in July this year, delaying the country’s 5G rollout until approximately 2028:
China’s ambassador to the UK called the decision "disappointing and wrong". Even so, several other countries, from France to Germany and to those in central and eastern Europe have all had to accommodate the US demands by different measures.
Founded in 1987 by a former military engineer, Huawei denies all of Washington’s accusations. Chinese officials accuse Washington of using national security as an excuse to stop a competitor to US tech industries. Huawei became the world's top-selling smartphone brand in the three months ending in June, passing rival Samsung for the first time.
Despite the UK’s U-turn earlier this year, and in light of Huawei’s new announcement, it appears that Washington’s global campaign to prevent its closest allies from using Huawei, in the next generation of wireless networks has largely failed.
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