Ren Zhengfei, Huawei CEO and founder, launched a global promotional campaign last year to improve the company's image abroad. (Photo : www.china.org.cn)
Huawei Technologies Co.’s ad featuring an image of a ballerina’s feet, one elegantly poised in a satin shoe and the other bruised and bandaged, has caused a stir among employees and social media users.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the ad was part of the company's global advertising campaign launched earlier this year by Ren Zhengfei, Huawei's founder, in an effort to explain the company's roots and its rise as a Chinese global company.
According to the report, the 70-year-old chief executive saw the battered foot as a symbol of the Huawei's hardship and rise from a small venture in a Shenzhen apartment, as well as the founder's own struggles and some of his workers.
"The beat-up foot is Mr. Ren himself," Huawei board director Chen Lifang, who oversaw the ad campaign, said in an interview.
The report, however, said that some Huawei employees viewed the image as negative and introspective, according to comments posted on the company's internal employee forum. Some employees said that Huawei should have used more uplifting ads featuring the latest products in the print, online and billboard campaign.
The U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment often reviews international transactions with foreign companies. Chinese technology companies such as Huawei were placed under scrutiny over cybersecurity and hacking concerns.
Most of Huawei's networking gear were not allowed in the U.S. after a 2012 congressional report told U.S. telecommunications carriers to avoid using Huawei as their supplier, due to national security concerns.
Huawei, however, rejected the accusation that it is supported by the Chinese government and denied claims that its equipment could pose a threat to national security.
Huawei has been expanding rapidly in many parts of the world, fueled by the company's investment in research and development and an intensely competitive culture.
Huawei said on July 20 that its revenue for the first half of this year grew 30 percent from a year earlier to 175.9 billion yuan ($28.3 billion), driven by growing sales of networking gear and smartphones. The company did not divulge its net profit, but said that for the same period, its operating margin increased to 18 percent. Last year, its operating margin was 11.9 percent.
Huawei's revenue rose 21 percent year-on-year in 2014, much faster than an 8.6-percent increase in 2013. Its growth was particularly strong in China, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Its R&D investment increased nearly 30 percent to $6.6 billion last year, larger than Apple Inc.'s $6 billion.
