Chinese network equipment firm Huawei launched its budget smartphone, dubbed the X3, in Korea more than a year ago, but has struggled to secure customers in a market dominated by Samsung, Apple and LG.

Huawei Korea chief executive Kelvin Ding, however, is “not disappointed.”

At a press conference in Seoul on Tuesday, he stressed that the company was “doing great in other sectors,” in particular, in its strategic focus segment of the business-to-business market.

“Our main focus is the B2B segment,” the CEO said.
 

Ding said he was upbeat about the company’s overall business outlook in Korea, despite its apparent struggle in the handset market, and vowed to strengthen partnerships with Korean firms.

The company -- the only privately run Chinese firm on the Fortune 500 list this year –- is the a main network equipment supplier for Korea’s leading mobile carriers SK Telecom and KT.

It runs start-up fostering and scholarship programs here, supporting Korean entrepreneurs to tap into the Chinese market.

Those are in line with Huawei’s efforts to be on good terms with many small and medium enterprises in Korea, which provided the Chinese firm with 2.2 trillion won ($1.87 billion) worth of ICT device components this year.

Around 140 governments, 160 power companies, and 14 top energy firms around the world utilize data center servers and storage systems developed by Huawei.

“Huawei’s businesses in Korea, along with those in the U.S., Europe and Japan, are important,” said Huawei Korea’s senior executive vice president Peter Kim, adding that the markets’ combined sales accounted for 82 percent of the firm’s global sales.

Huawei, the world’s third-largest smartphone-maker by sales, has been stepping up its efforts to increase its presence beyond its home market, putting weight on promoting its consumer IT products around the world.

In Korea, following the launch of X3 last year, the company released the Nexus 6P smartphone, which was developed jointly with Internet giant Google, earlier this year.

Huawei expects that its worldwide smartphone shipments will reach 100 million units this year, up 33 percent from last year.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)