Specialist
Former Manager at Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Agenda
- R&D trends of AI chips
- China-US trade war impact – Huawei’s coping strategies, chip R&D, production and sales
- Huawei’s R&D outlook on chips for the coming 2-3 years and possible development strategies for Internet of Things and autonomous driving
- Trade war impact on China’s 5G telecom industry
- Sourcing new vendors – potential solutions for ZTE (SHE: 000063) and Huawei
Questions
1.
What impacts has the China-US trade war had so far on Huawei and China’s semiconductor industry in general? What are the best and worst case-scenarios we would need to consider?
2.
Reports say that Huawei’s procurement of passive components, laser products and RF (radio frequency) devices will be affected. Can you elaborate a little on this? The supply of what components will be affected the most for Huawei?
3.
How many RF front-end chips for consumer devices was Huawei purchasing from US, Japanese and European suppliers respectively before the bans?
4.
Do the RF front-end modules offered by US and Japanese suppliers differ much in performance or quality?
5.
Can Huawei turn to Japanese suppliers to fill the gap if the US imposes stricter bans on exports?
6.
How much will Huawei spend to purchase components from Japanese suppliers if it ends co-operation with US suppliers altogether?
7.
Now can you take some time to summarise for us the impacts of the China-US trade war on Huawei’s purchase of RF front-end chips? What implications does it have for the future?
8.
Some Chinese companies are offering PAs, filters and antennas too. Are there any domestic PA or filter manufacturers that you think are promising or stand out in terms of technology?
9.
What are the main barriers to producing PAs and filters for Chinese companies?
10.
How much must a domestic company invest on R&D at the initial stage if it wants to enter the PA or filter market?
11.
If Huawei is one day left with no choice but to co-operate with domestic suppliers, what do you think its selection criteria will be?
12.
If US suppliers stop selling RF front-end chips to Huawei from now on, how long can Huawei’s remaining stock last?
13.
Turning to base stations and servers, can Huawei find an alternative if ARM revokes its chip IP licence?
14.
Did you mean that Huawei has completed the licensing of ARMv8?
15.
Can Huawei develop the technologies needed for base stations, for example, millimetre wave radars, by itself or outsource the R&D to external companies if US companies stop offering the technologies to it?
16.
Which Chinese suppliers can provide base station RF devices to Huawei?
17.
If Huawei’s base station layout may be affected, will Chinese telecom operators purchase 5G base stations from European brands such as Ericsson and Nokia instead?
18.
How great do you think ZTE’s share in the 5G base station sector can grow?
19.
Will it result in delay of 5G infrastructure construction or rising of potential capital expenditures if the US bans on American exports to Huawei?
20.
Will Huawei be capable of manufacturing 5G smartphones if the US bans on exports of key American devices to Huawei?
21.
In fact, Huawei also makes layouts in emerging business such as smart cities and self-driving. Does the US’s ban have major impacts on those projects as well?
22.
Will Huawei focus on 5G and smartphone manufacturing along with the escalating China-US trade war?
23.
The China-US trade war also resulted in revenue decline of some US optical device suppliers. What are its specific impacts on Huawei and US optical device suppliers?
24.
Can you brief us on Huawei’s logic, standards and procurement volumes and batches when purchasing semiconductor-related devices?
25.
It is reported that Huawei will continue to increase R&D input. Which directions do you think it may focus on in future R&D?
26.
Does the China-US trade war affect performance of Huawei overseas?
27.
What are impacts of the China-US trade war on chip OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) such as Taiwan-based TSMC and UMC and mainland-based SMIC respectively?
28.
The 14nm technology of SMIC is not mature and if TSMC ceases to provide 7nm for Huawei, what should Huawei do?
29.
What are the opportunities and challenges of domestic semiconductor packaging and test enterprises against the backdrop of China-US trade war? It seems that JCET and TSHT have developed well in the secondary market.
30.
Will the trade war impact optical fibres and cables?
31.
How about some high-end upstream semiconductor materials?
32.
How will the China-US trade war influence ZTE?
33.
What are your predictions of the China-US trade war and of its possible impacts on the semiconductor industry?
34.
What do you think the outcome of the China-US trade war might be? And how about Huawei?
