Huawei hopes to dominate the next generation of 5G wireless technology, and it is investing in this goal at a rate that few companies can match.
Last year, the world's leading network equipment supplier spent $15.3 billion on research and development. This is more than twice the R&D investment of about five years ago – of the top 10 companies with the highest R&D investment in the world, only Amazon has surpassed this speed.
The growing spending to strengthen Huawei's leading position in the 5G network may make Washington feel uneasy. The Trump administration has accused the Shenzhen-based company of helping the Chinese government to engage in espionage - and Huawei has repeatedly denied this allegation. The United States is currently pressing other countries around the world to ban Huawei from participating in 5G construction.
Huawei itself is increasingly actively moving from mobile and cloud services to semiconductors. According to data compiled by Bloomberg, in terms of capital expenditure, Huawei's 2018 R&D budget is only behind Amazon, Alphabet and Samsung Electronics, ranking fourth in the world.
nvestment innovation
Amazon leads the world in R&D spending, China's Huawei jumps to fourth place
As companies around the world prepare to invest billions of dollars in building 5G networks, the US government is launching a campaign against Huawei. The 5G network is a key component of autonomous vehicles and other advanced infrastructure. Nonetheless, countries that account for about 40% of global gross domestic product (GDP) either welcome Huawei or seem unlikely to completely limit the Chinese supplier.
Huawei's R&D budget for 2018 has increased by 149% compared to 2014, which is more than the growth of Apple, Microsoft and Samsung. Amazon's 210% R&D spending growth is the only among the top 10 companies with the highest R&D investment.
Development budget
2018 compared to 2014 R&D expenditure changes
Huawei's 2018 R&D budget accounts for 14% of its revenue, ranking second, second only to Alphabet.
Revenue share
According to the proportion of R&D expenditure in revenue, Huawei ranked second
From 2014 to 2018, Huawei ranked seventh in total R&D spending, reaching 368 billion yuan - at an average exchange rate of $580 billion, at $54 billion at current exchange rates. Amazon is the global leader in the same period. Bloomberg's R&D data is adjusted for one-time expenses and non-recurring activities and the dollar amount calculated based on the average exchange rate for the relevant period.
five year Plan
In the past five years, technology companies have dominated R&D spending by global companies.