Huawei Ponders Future of Its Cloud Unit

What’s new: Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. hasn’t yet decided what form its cloud business should take as it develops, the unit’s president said Sunday.

Zhang Pingan, speaking at the Huawei Developer Conference in Shenzhen, said that cloud sector in general is ripe for significant investment and the industry is developing at a fast pace.

Zhang said the company hasn’t ruled out the possibility of spinning the cloud unit off into an independent business.

Richard Yu, Huawei’s executive director, said at the same event that “by 2025, 100% of enterprises around the globe will be utilizing cloud technology” and Huawei will “continue to open its technological innovation capabilities and work with developers and partners to accelerate the cloud and intelligent transformation of business.”

The background: Huawei said earlier this month that it is restructuring its core cloud and artificial intelligence business group after only 14 months of operations, reflecting the company’s difficulties in transforming from device-maker to service provider.

Huawei Cloud became China’s second-largest cloud services provider in the fourth quarter of last year, growing its domestic market share to 17.4%, according to data from research firm Canalys. This marked a sharp contrast to the fourth quarter of 2019, when Huawei Cloud was out of the top three. Alibaba Cloud maintained its top position by controlling 40.3% of the market, the data showed.

Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use. To read the full Caixin article in Chinese, click here.

Contact reporter Timmy Shen (hongmingshen@caixin.com) and editor Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com)

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