China’s Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is set to launch an all-encompassing marketing campaign to conquer and win over U.S.-based smart devices consumers.
The tech giant, which has been previously tagged as a national security threat in the U.S., plans to release new brands of mobile phones and wearable devices backed by various marketing strategies such as traditional advertising and online promotion.
As what Huawei officials told Reuters, the $40-billion-earning smartphone maker will include the youth-oriented “Honor” phone in its set of smart gears to be rolled out.
Last December, a new Honor 6 Plus phone billboard was put up in New York’s iconic landmark, Times Square.
Another part of Huawei’s campaign is to sponsor sports teams, as stated by the firm’s U.S. spokesman, Bill Plummer. The company has been sponsoring London soccer club Arsenal, rugby clubs in Australia and cricket teams in India.
The new shift in Huawei’s marketing strategy in the U.S. is aimed at promoting the company’s products as high-quality smart devices contrary to the common notion that China-made devices are relatively poor in quality as indicated in their cheap prices.
However, Plummer declined to disclose the total amount of Huawei’s latest marketing campaign.
According to research firm IDC, Huawei holds less than 1-percent share in the U.S. smart devices market, which is dominated by tech veterans Apple, Inc. and Samsung Electronics.
On a positive note, IDC research manager Ramon Llamas pointed out that Huawei could follow the footsteps of another Chinese tech firm, ZTE Corp., which has gained a 6.4-percent share by selling budget-friendly phones and partnering with second-tier carriers.
Meanwhile, Gartner analyst C.K. Lu stated that the best options for Huawei include online sales. In particular, he mentioned no-contract plans that allow consumers to buy full-price phones.
Lu emphasized that it could be hard for Huawei to sign and seal a deal with carriers, adding that “the U.S. market is tough for anybody except Apple and Samsung.”
Currently, none of the four biggest carriers in the U.S.--Verizon, Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile--sell Huawei phones on their online platforms. The carriers also did not reveal any one of them is presently talking with the Chinese tech giant.
In 2013, Huawei said that its campaigns will focus on other regions upon the release of a U.S. Congressional report where they were labeled as a “national security risk.”
However, a review ordered by the White House showed no proof of a security risk.