Industry sources said that as the 5G spectrum auction is about to be held on June 15th, the competition between Korean domestic and overseas equipment manufacturers for orders for 5G network equipment is becoming increasingly fierce. When the three major operators in South Korea allocate spectrum, they are expected to Immediately begin ordering related telecommunication equipment next month.
In this regard, the most noteworthy point will be Huawei's ability to steal some of its market share from Samsung Electronics, which occupies nearly half of Korea’s telecommunications network equipment market.
Samsung Electronics, Huawei, Ericsson, and Nokia all tried to bid for orders for 5G network equipment from the three major carriers in South Korea. However, industry experts predict that this competition will eventually become a two-way hegemony between Samsung Electronics and Huawei.
In 2013, for the first time, Huawei provided telecommunications equipment for the operator LG U+ to build LTE services. Due to security controversy at the time, LG U+ announced that it will not use Huawei equipment at the US military stationed in South Korea.
However, the current 5G network equipment bidding is proceeding in favor of Huawei, because it is considered as a technical leader in 3.5 GHz spectrum equipment. The spectrum is called by the industry as 'golden spectrum' and can be used to create a nationwide The network. In addition, Huawei's equipment is also 30% lower than its competitors.
'In the future, we will have to spend tens of trillions of won to build a nationwide 5G network. Therefore, the price competitiveness of telecommunications equipment cannot be ignored,' said a telecommunications industry official.
Huawei is also preparing to reinvigorate its smart phone business in the Korean market. 'We are actively considering launching new smart phones in Korea,' said a Huawei Korean executive. 'We haven’t decided yet, but we may be launching in Korea first. , Low-end models. '
Huawei's influence is constantly expanding. Market research firm TrendForce has already predicted that Huawei will beat Apple in the second quarter of this year and become the world's second-largest smartphone market.
However, compared with its popularity in the global market, Huawei's mobile phone performance in South Korea is not outstanding, mainly because of its low-cost image in the hearts of Korean consumers.
In 2016, Korea Telecom launched the Huawei P9 Light called Be Y; at the end of the same year, LG U+ introduced Huawei's P9 and P9 Plus; at the end of last year, Korea Telecom launched Huawei Be Y 2, but failed to achieve it. Expected results.
However, Huawei recently released the first three-camera smart phone P20Pro, and is expected to launch the world's first 5G smart phone and a foldable smart phone. Therefore, some experts stated that Huawei's corporate image is expected to be substantially improved.
