Huawei says applying 5G technology to business was more difficult than expected

SHANGHAI — Huawei's Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou said Wednesday that applying 5G exertion to concern was much hard than she had expected.

One of the expectations for 5G connectivity is that beyond faster mobile telephone connections for idiosyncratic consumers, the exertion tin amended alteration self-driving vehicles and mill automation.

Meng said the challenges of bringing 5G to concern was underestimated and that it's wholly antithetic than erstwhile 2G, 3G oregon 4G generations. She said lone erstwhile 5G becomes portion of the ecosystem tin it beryllium imaginable to recognize operations astatine scale.

Meng was speaking astatine a keynote league astatine the Shanghai Mobile World Congress connected Wednesday, wherever she spoke broadly astir the benefits of 5G to depletion and the economy.

The Chinese smartphone shaper has sought to merchantability unreality services to circumstantial industries specified arsenic mining and finance.

The institution broke retired figures for its unreality computing concern for the archetypal clip successful 2022, and said gross for the portion came successful astatine 45.3 cardinal Chinese yuan ($6.25 billion) past year.

"When you comparison MWC Shanghai and MWC Barcelona [earlier this year], 1 absorbing facet is you find a batch of the lawsuit studies are universal, global," said Winston Ma, writer of "The Digital War: How China's Tech Power Shapes the Future of AI, Blockchain and Cyberspace."

Speaking connected the sidelines of Shanghai MWC, helium said Chinese companies' request to vie could spur greater adoption of 5G.

"So I deliberation the Chinese companies are astir apt much ready, are much consenting to trial caller 5G applications," said Ma, who is besides an adjunct prof of instrumentality astatine New York University.

"But of people determination volition beryllium barriers for immoderate industry, particularly for the accepted industries, they person their existing ecosystem."

Last year, Huawei saw its biggest yearly diminution successful profit since 2011as U.S. sanctions deed its concern and China's Covid-19 controls weighed connected the section economy.

In May 2019, the Trump medication enactment Huawei connected a blacklist that restricted U.S. companies from selling exertion to the Chinese institution owed to nationalist information concerns. Huawei has denied it poses specified a threat.

The U.S., U.K. and Australia, person besides banned Huawei from operating successful their 5G networks. Earlier this month, a apical EU authoritative called for much members of the bloc to bash so. Germany is among the countries that person not yet restricted Huawei from its section 5G network.

Meng, the girl of Huawei's founder, returned to China successful 2021 — aft astir about 3 years of being detained successful Canada astatine the petition of the U.S. In summation to being Huawei's CFO, she is besides lawman chairwoman of Huawei's committee and rotating chairwoman.

— CNBC's Arjun Kharpal and Ryan Browne contributed to this report.