Huawei Pivots to Renewable Energy as Smartphones Slump

By Takashi Kawakami and Togo Shiraishi, Nikkei staff writers

Huawei has recently signed the contract with SEPCOIII at Global Digital Power Summit 2021 in Dubai for a 1300 MWh off-grid battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Saudi Arabia, currently the world’s largest of its kind. Photo: Huawei

(Nikkei Asia) — Chinese telecommunications hardware provider Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. has turned to solar power and energy storage projects as its smartphone business struggles under U.S. sanctions, but the company’s ability to return to growth remains uncertain.

“Digitalization and carbon neutrality are two of the world's hottest topics,” Huawei Deputy Chairman Guo Ping said Tuesday in an online speech at the MWC Barcelona mobile tech expo, stressing the need to consider the “new dimension” of carbon reduction.