HUAWEI Announces €70 Million Investment in R&D in Finland
Helsinki, Finland, December 10, 2012: HUAWEI, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider, today announced that it will invest €70 million over a five-year period to establish a research and development (R&D) centre in Helsinki, Finland. The strategic investment reflects HUAWEI’s deep and long-term commitment to Europe and will strengthen the company’s R&D capabilities, augmenting to over 70000 employees currently engaged in R&D worldwide.
The Finnish R&D centre will be a key driver in HUAWEI’s research and development of new technologies for mobile devices. Initial projects will focus on software development
for smartphones, tablets and rich-media devices, optimising the user experience of existing operating systems such as Android and Windows Phone 8. From the outset, HUAWEI plans to recruit 30 employees for the centre, with the goal of hiring more than 100 employees over five years.
"We believe the key to building our brand is to provide consumers with a reliable and differentiated user experience," said Kenneth Fredriksen, Vice-President, HUAWEI Central, Eastern and Nordic Europe. "The open and innovative environment in Finland is an ideal place for HUAWEI to strengthen our global R&D capabilities for devices, creating opportunities for both HUAWEI and the Finnish elecommunications industry."
Over the past 10 years, HUAWEI has grown significantly in Europe, particularly due to the region’s open economy and foreign investment initiatives, and is committed to further
increase its investment in the region. In September 2012, HUAWEI announced a USD2 billion investment in R&D, local procurement and centre of excellence initiatives in the
United Kingdom. HUAWEI currently employs more than 7000 people across Europe.
The R&D centre in Helsinki will serve as one of HUAWEI’s core centres for device R&D, joining an already established modem and technology design centre in Sweden and a user interface research centre in the United Kingdom.