Huawei marked its tenth anniversary in the United States by hosting an inauguration of a new R&D center in Santa Clara, California. The 200,000 square-foot facility includes multiple state-of-the-art research labs and focuses on the research and development of next generation communications solutions for U.S. customers while supporting Huawei's global R&D research efforts.
In a series of speeches, presentations and technology demos, Huawei executives emphasized the transformation of the company from a merely a Chinese manufacturer into a global R&D powerhouse focused on becoming an end-to-end supplier of ICT solutions for telecom operators, enterprises, small businesses and consumers. The company's R&D team in Santa Clara is pursuing "true Silicon Valley style" projects in areas ranging from enterprise cloud services to content-aware routing.
Huawei began its operations in the U.S. in 2001 by opening its first office in Plano, Texas. Since then, the company has grown to 1,100 employees in 12 branch offices and 7 R&D centers. Its next phase will see it pursue the enterprise, SMB, cable and consumer segments.
Huawei also noted that it has become a leading purchaser of U.S. silicon products, having procured $6.1 billion in 2010. The company invested $103 million locally in research and development last year. It also emphasized its charitable work with local food banks and school programs, including its support of America's Promise Alliance, which aims to reduce the high school dropout rate across the country.
The company said all of these efforts are indicative of its transformation in a global innovation company with local presence.
"Huawei has a long history of delivering customer-centric innovation that has changed the way people communicate," said Charles Ding, President of Huawei North America and Co-president of Huawei USA. "With the opening of our Santa Clara R&D facility, we will continue to focus on groundbreaking research that addresses customer needs and creates new growth opportunities for the company."http://www.huawei.com