Huawei Technologies expects to see a strong growth in its southeast Asia business, as mobile operators across the region upgrade their networks to advanced technologies like HSPA and LTE.
The southeast Asia region - which covers 10 markets including Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Sri Lanka – generated $1.34 billion revenue in 2010, up 17.7% year-on-year. This represented 8-10% of the company’s total revenue.
Yang Shu, Huawei’s president and CEO for southeast Asia region, expects revenue in 2011 to surpass the company’s target of $1.39 billion.
“We are confident that we could maintain a double-digit growth [in revenue] and exceed the target this year,” Yang said. “The southeast Asia region has a great potential of growth because of its vast population and a good future economic outlook in the region.”
He said LTE is the key growth driver in developed markets like Hong Kong, whereas developing markets like Vietnam and Cambodia are driven by the need to increase network capacity and 3G penetration rate.
For example in Vietnam and the Philippines, where the penetration of 3G is still low and operators are planning to expand the 3G network coverage beyond populated urban areas to rural areas, Yang noted.