Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. may release its first personal computer next month, as part of its plan to compete against Apple Inc. in revenue.
It will be fascinating for fans to see whether the world's biggest telecom equipment manufacturer can translate its success story in smartphones market to PC, where demand is pining in major markets.
According to China Daily, Huawei is working closely with chipmaker Intel Corp. on a PC that is slated for release in February. However, it is unclear what type of device the Shenzhen, Guangdong-based vendor will unveil.
An unnamed source revealed that the company might launch at least one tablet gadget at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. According to the source, the matter is confidential and there might be an announcement concerning the PC business during the event.
Nicole Peng, research director of Canalys China, a market research corporation based in Shanghai, said that Huawei might decide to enter the PC market amid difficulties to attain profits immediately. However, the company will also need to overcome some challenges to make the PC concept work.
Peng said, "The PC market, including tablets, is undergoing a tough time with even Apple seeing stagnant tablet sales."
The enterprise market could be more significant for Huawei since there are still notable revenue opportunities.
Peng added, "But Huawei needs to leverage the business-to-business channel to sell PCs instead of using the current retail channel . . . a big challenge for them."
Huawei might try to tap top-notch businesspersons for PC sales to maintain a profit margin and premium laptop/tablet convertibles similar to giants in the industry such as Microsoft Corporation with its Surface product line.
The consumer unit of Huawei is majorly made up of smartphone sales, while Apple has a full spectrum of products varying from smartphones to desktop PCs.