ZTE, Huawei Stumble Some More 华为中兴：难兄难弟
There’s more news out on the latest stumbles by former Chinese superstars Huawei and ZTE (HKEx: 763; Shenzhen 000063) as they try to break into tough Western markets. First Huawei. After being selected as a finalist to supply 4G equipment for US Cellular, the sixth largest US wireless carrier (English article), Chinese media are reporting that a group of US congressmen have petitioned Barack Obama asking him to take Huawei out of the running. (Chinese article) This is exactly the kind of interference that has killed previous deals, including Sprint’s (NYSE: S) rejection of ZTE for a similar deal in February. (previous post) Obama needs to take a stand and tell these Republicans to go away, though he may be reluctant with presidential elections coming next year. As to ZTE, the company has put out a statement saying a new lawsuit by Ericsson (Stockholm: ERICb) won’t affect it much as the suit was filed in the UK and it doesn’t do very much business there. (press release). The problem is, Western countries usually honor each other’s intellectual property judgments, meaning a ruling against ZTE in the UK will probably be observed by other Western governments and thus many buyers in those markets will be reluctant to do business with ZTE until this case is settled.
Bottom line: Huawei and ZTE may eventually overcome the recent flurry of resistance to them in the West, but they may need help from the Chinese government to do so.
中国电信设备巨头华为和中兴<0763.HK><000063.SZ>近来真是挫折不断。先说华为。此前它被美国第六大无线运营商 US Cellular选为提供4G设备的最终候选供应商之一，但近期中国媒体报导，一批美国议员向奥巴马上书，要求取消华为的候选资格。这与中国电信企业此前在美国遭遇的歧视性干预如出一辙–Sprint电信公司今年二月就回绝了中兴的投标。奥巴马应该做出表态，让那些共和党议员一边呆着去。但是，着眼明年大选的奥巴马恐怕不愿因此得罪共和党议员。中兴针对爱立信提起的知识产权诉讼发表声明说，这起在英国提起的诉讼对其影响不大，因为中兴在英国业务不多。但问题是，西方国家通常会尊重其他国家做出的知识产权方面的判决，这就意味着如果中兴在英国败诉，其他西方市场会遵循判决结果，令中兴举步维艰。
一句话：华为和中兴有可能熬过近期在西方市场遇到的挫折，但他们需要中国政府的帮助才行。
Related postings 有关文章:
◙ Huawei: Strength in Separation? 华为：大胆
◙ Huawei quits 3Leaf buy, but stay tuned for more
◙ ZTE US, India Moves Smell of Desperation 中兴通讯急了
