Huawei to invest $1.5bn in its developer program

The Chinese tech company Huawei said on Wednesday that it will offer more than $1 billion in investment over the next five years to attract global developers.

The offer is part of the company’s broader computing strategy, which includes investing in basic research around its products to support new technology such as artificial intelligence. The firm also said it will make its hardware and software more readily available to its customers and partners.

Huawei announced its developer program four years ago. The company says it has supported more than 1.3 million developers since then, as well as 14,000 independent software vendors around the world.

According to Huawei’s Deputy Chairman Ken Hu, the company wants to expand that program to another five million developers. It also wants to help partners “develop the next generation of intelligent applications and solutions.”

Ken Hu said: “The future of computing is a massive market worth more than $2 trillion,” adding: “We’ll keep investing.”

Huawei is currently caught in the crossfire of the US-China trade war. In May, the US placed Huawei on its so-called “Entity List,” effectively barring American companies from doing business with the Chinese tech giant. Washington accused the Huawei of being a threat to its national security and foreign policy interests.

Despite the challenges, the Shenzhen-based company reported that its global share of telecoms equipment expanded to 28.1 percent in the first half of this year. It also remains ahead of global rivals in the 5G market, having announced 50 commercial 5G mobile network deals.

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