'We never thought that the U.S.'s determination to attack Huawei would be so strong, so firm,' Ren Zhengfei, who is also the CEO, stated during a panel discussion at company headquarters in Shenzhen.

 

Ren said Huawei will lessen capacity and expects revenues of about $100 billion annually for the next two years, compared with $105 billion in 2018. In February, he said the company was targeting $125 billion in 2019.

 

Huawei's overseas mobile sales will drop by 40%, Ren said, confirming a Bloomberg report released Sunday. But the Chinese market continues to grow rapidly, and Huawei will not allow restrictive measures to curb its research and development, he added.

 

Huawei is embroiled in an ongoing trade dispute between China and the U.S., which has accused Chinese companies such as for example Huawei of committing forced technology transfers and stealing trade secrets. Last month, the U.S. placed Huawei on its 'Entity List,' which effectually bars American companies from selling components to Huawei without government approval.

 

In December, Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou — Ren's daughter — was imprisoned in Vancouver at the request of U.S. authorities. The U.S. alleges that Meng misguided American banks about the company's business dealings with Iran, and that Huawei used a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment in Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions.

 

The U.S. also claims Huawei, a leader in next-generation 5G cellphone networks, is a threat to global cybersecurity basically because it must obey China's ruling Communist Party. While Ren declines that Huawei would share user data with the Chinese government if ordered to do so, Washington has been trying to convince its allies to exclude Huawei from their upcoming 5G rollout.

 

Responding, Huawei brought a lawsuit in the U.S. this March demanding the constitutionality of a national security law which prevents the U.S. government and its contractors from using Huawei equipment. The charge, lodged in Plano, Texas, where Huawei's American operations are headquartered, states that the law singles out Huawei for punishment even while rejecting the company due process.

 

Ren said Monday there are no backdoors in its equipment that anyone could access, and that Huawei is willing to enter into a no backdoor agreement with any nation that wants one.

 

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Huawei is asking Verizon to pay licensing fees for above and beyond 200 of its patents. While Huawei rejected to comment on the matter, company spokesman Joe Kelly said it will hold a briefing later this month on being more aggressive about collecting intellectual property licensing fees.

 

Ren said during the panel discussion that Huawei will never use its many patents as a 'weapon,' but didn't rule out seeking royalties for usage.

 

He highlighted that Huawei isn't going to stop collaborating with other countries and businesses.

 

The company's existing situation 'is not caused by American businesses, but rather by certain politicians' different perspectives,' Ren said. 'I think both sides will suffer. No one will win.'

 

The panel, organised by Huawei, also included Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of the media lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and writer and investor George Gilder.

 

This article is originally posted on tronserve.com