i3 - January/February 2017 - 9

uilding a better
connected world
is the vision of
Huawei, the
leading Chinese
mobile phone
manufacturer.
And Richard Yu,
CEO, Huawei
Consumer Business
Group, is leading
the company into
a new mobile,
collaborative
environment.

C TA . t e c h / i 3

With ubiquitous networks with the ability
to connect people together, unlimited possibilities become real and the company
is positioned to move its vision forward.
It released its new Mate 9 series in
mid-November.
Yu began his career at Huawei more than
two decades ago in 1993. He has since held
several titles with Huawei, including CTO
of Wireless R&D, and director of the GSM/
UMTS technical sales department. In 2006,
he was appointed president of Huawei's
Wireless Network product line, and was
nominated as president of the European
region in 2008.
Huawei launched its Consumer Business
Group in 2003. Since then, it has emerged as
one of the top three smartphone brands, and
has pushed the industry forward with innovative consumer technology. Today, Huawei
serves more than 170 countries and more
than one third of the world's population.
Yu will also deliver a keynote address
at CES® 2017 and share Huawei's pioneering
global model for information and communications technology and his ideas for the
future of mobile. Huawei has a distinct
vision for a more global model of innovation,
which taps into the strengths of each country
and region and encourages collaboration
with the adoption of the latest technologies
and techniques.
Yu is leading Huawei's mobile plan that
integrates the latest in artificial intelligence,
virtual reality and connected technologies and
pairs them with elite global partnerships and
sustainable product development. He talked
with i3 about the possibilities in this new
connected frontier.

With the growing number of
technology companies from
China, especially in the smartphone
category (such as Xiaomi and
OPPO), how is Huawei differentiating
itself from the others?
Huawei has truly established itself as a
global brand, recently surpassing Samsung
in terms of global smartphone profits in Q3
2016. Huawei has been able to establish
itself as a leader in premium and mid-range
devices alike, pioneering new features like
the dual-camera system co-engineered with
Leica that make our devices stand out on the
global stage.

How do international events such as
CES and CES Asia fit into Huawei's
global marketing strategy?
These events provide the ideal platform
for Huawei to showcase new products and
technologies, and also be a voice on the issues
that matter to the tech industry today. CES is
one of the rare times when all of the leading
consumer tech companies come together for
a dynamic conversation on big issues such as
connectivity, the smart home and the Internet
of Things. For Huawei, and for me, events like
CES offer an opportunity to get a holistic view
of product trends, consumer opinions and
new marketing techniques.

What is your vision for a mobile
connected world?
Our culture is increasingly demanding two
things - rich information and convenient
access. The age of mobile connectivity has
led to so much information being available
digitally, creating an unparalleled expectation
for access. Similarly, the kind of information
available changes - no longer is information
static, it's dynamic and far richer than its
analogue counterpart.

At a recent conference, you talked
about artificial intelligence.
How will AI be incorporated into
Huawei's future business model?
At Huawei, we envision AI as a core feature
of what we call the "Superphone." This new
category of device goes far beyond simply
making calls or browsing the internet,
instead, it leverages AI to become not only
a personal assistant, but an extension of
yourself that anticipates your needs and takes
action on your behalf.

What is your personal opinion on
the future and usage of AI?
One of the things we see becoming more and
more of a concern is the problem of information overload. It's simply not possible for
many people to make full use of the massive
amounts of diverse, personalized information
available to them at any given time. We see
curation by means of artificial intelligence as
a viable solution to this concern.
With AI, we're able to make access to
information more efficient by proactively
retrieving information based on the prediction of user behaviors. At the same time,
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

9
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i3 - January/February 2017

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