Huawei reiterated it will not invest in or take control of any carmakers due to several factors during an auto industry forum in the city of Baoding, north China's Hebei Province, on Monday.
According to Chi Linchun, general manager of marketing and sales at Huawei's smart car solutions business unit, the company's information and communication technology (ICT) business has huge commercial interests in the European market, among which Germany is the most important. If Huawei makes cars, it will compete directly with Germany, whose pillar industry is the automotive industry.
He also emphasized that automobiles are very different from mobile phones. Huawei does not have the ability to make cars now, and will not take control of or invest in any auto companies.
Last month, the tech giant has already claimed that it has not and will not invest in auto companies, saying that the auto industry does not need Huawei-branded cars, but rather its ICT capability.
As a provider of digital auto parts, Huawei "chooses BAIC, Chang'an Auto, and GAC Motors to be strategic partners to support their sub-brands," the company said in a statement. "Cars that adopt Huawei autonomous driving solutions can only use the HI logo, which means Huawei Inside, after they are authorized by Huawei."
Huawei is under the spotlight in auto fields as automakers from U.S.-leading firm Tesla to China's domestic upstarts Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto are battling for a slice of the Chinese market, the world's biggest electric vehicle (EV) market.
In March, Chinese handset maker Xiaomi unveiled plans to invest 10 billion yuan ($1.52 billion) in a wholly-owned smart electric vehicle (EV) subsidiary, with a total investment goal of $10 billion over the next 10 years.
As early as the beginning of the year, search giant Baidu and Geely Automobile Holdings announced to build EVs together. For their joint company, Baidu will provide intelligent driving capabilities to power the passenger vehicles, while Geely will contribute its expertise in automobile design and manufacturing.
(Cover image: The logo of Huawei. /CFP)