Editor’s note: CGTN’s First Voice provides instant commentary on breaking stories. The daily column clarifies emerging issues and better defines the news agenda, offering a Chinese perspective on the latest global events.
It’s a deal.
On Tuesday morning, Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei announced that it would sell off its budget smartphone brand Honor. In the official statement of Huawei, this move was “made by Honor’s industry chain to ensure its own survival.” The company will be owned by newly founded Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co., a consortium of over 30 agents.
Many see this as a “no-alternative-but-have-to” move in the face of U.S. sanctions. Last year, the U.S. issued sanctions blocking Huawei’s access to American chips. The restrictions were further tightened this year. The Trump administration banned manufactures worldwide using U.S. technology to sell chips for Huawei.
It would be impossible to deny that this move has nothing to do with U.S. sanctions. Would this help Huawei to adopt a more flexible strategy as it is being restricted around the world? Sure. But Wang Jianhui, deputy general manager of the research and development department at Capital Securities pointed out that there was a bigger push here against the current global background. The key word here is uncertainty.
One of the most direct consequences of U.S. sanctions and the disruptions of supply chains, is the decrease in revenue. The retail sales of Huawei for the first three quarters this year increased by 9.9 percent compared with last year. It was still in a leading position but the growth has slowed – in 2019, the company reported a 24.4 percent growth in revenue for the same period.
Would a new Biden administration adopt a new “Huawei” policy? By this time, it has become quite clear that the Democrats at least share some of the concerns that Republicans have towards China. It just seems too risky to place all the bets on a new administration.
In this case, selling Honor at a fair price would provide some decent cash flow for Huawei to focus more on its core business and inject funds to the company’s strategic development in the future. Although there has not been an official announcement, it is estimated that the price will be between 100 and 200 billion yuan ($15-30 billion).
According to Wang, selling off Honor should be seen as a strategic adjustment of Huawei. The company was already the number one tech giant in the Chinese market. According to a Counterpoint report, Huawei also surpassed Samsung to become number one in global smartphone shipment in the second quarter of 2020.
Having two brands at the same time would surely diffuse the company’s resources. Thus, for the long-term development of the company, Huawei decided to focus more on its main brand to compete in the high-end smartphone market with Apple and Samsung.
“In the face of an uncertain future, Huawei still hopes to pull all its resources to develop its private brand,” said Wang.
The sell-off could also avoid future accusations that Huawei holds a monopoly of the Chinese market. Without future concerns that regulatory authorities may investigate Huawei’s market share, it can focus more on research and development.
And not just Huawei, Wang also mentioned that this could be potential good news for the Chinese smartphone market and consumers as well. Under the new owner, Honor as a competitive brand can help some major shareholders to integrate some second and third tier smartphone brands and help to speed the R&D process for these brands.
For Chinese consumers, a new independent Honor would also be likely to give discounts and launch new products to attract more consumers. At least in the short to mid-term, consumers can also be beneficiaries.
Against the backdrop of a global pandemic, uncertainty has become the “new normal” and a new context that every business must take into account when thinking about the future. But one thing is clear: it’s too early to “mourn” at the fate of either Huawei or Honor. The best option is perhaps a wait and see.
(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)
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Leaving her elderly father on a basement floor for two days in a soiled adult diaper won’t mean jail for a Calgary woman.
Justice Indra Maharaj accepted a joint Crown and defence submission on Wednesday for a two-year-less-a-day conditional sentence order for Tara Picard to be followed by 12 months of probation.
Prosecutor Donna Spaner and defence counsel Shaun Leochko proposed a community-based term which will include eight months of 24-hour house arrest followed by a nightly curfew for the second eight months.
Maharaj also agreed with the lawyers to order Picard to commit 300 hours of community service over the length of the three-year sentence.
The Calgary Court of Justice noted that amount of community-service hours was “a lot” to commit to.
But Maharaj said it showed Picard, 52, was truly remorseful for her conduct towards her father, whom Postmedia is not identifying because of the embarrassing nature of the facts of the case.
“What that shows me is Ms. Picard does sincerely recognize what has happened here,” the judge said of her willingness to complete community service.
“What I interpret from that is Ms. Picard’s willingness to give back to the community.”
Picard pleaded guilty in January to charges of assault and failing to provide the necessaries of life to her 77-year-old father.
Court heard caregivers found the elderly Calgary man on the basement floor of his daughter’s southeast home wearing a soiled adult diaper.
At the time, Picard was responsible for her father’s day-to-day care after he was moved to her residence, Spaner, reading from a statement of agreed facts, told court at the time.
“He had a number of medical ailments, including non-insulin dependent diabetes, coronary artery disease, some early onset dementia-like symptoms and chronic alcoholism,” Spaner said.
“(He) had been living independently in a Calgary apartment building. Family members became concerned that he was not caring for himself safely.”
With the help of Alberta Health Services he was moved to a home where Picard resided.
A registered nurse assigned to his care attended the 38 Street S.E. home on Nov. 15, 2021, to drop off food bank supplies for him and was told he was sleeping downstairs.
When the nurse called about an hour and a half later and spoke to the man on the phone he said he was lying on the floor, had fallen and was unable to get up.
When she returned to the home with a co-worker she found the victim lying on his back on the floor.
“(He) said that he had been lying on the floor for two days,” Spaner said.
Leochko said Picard was overwhelmed by the situation she was thrust into.
“It really was more than she could handle,” he said.
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@juanhall: I gotta say, this was the most interesting bike in this post….love that Intense is experimenting with gearboxes…I can see it have a huge effect on DH bikes….thank god there’s still people pushing things. Now, they need to make an Enduro bike with the Pinion MGU!
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The City of Pointe-Claire would like to inform you that the Bob-Birnie arena will be closed for its annual maintenance as of Monday, April 29. The Annex rink will reopen to the public on Monday, May 13, and the arena’s Main rink will be accessible as of Monday, June 3.
Public skating will resume on May 13, and the summer public activities programming will begin on June 3 when both rinks have reopened to the public.
In addition to the annual maintenance of the facility, two renovation projects are also scheduled to start at the same time:
Installation of new sound systems
The City will be replacing its current sound systems in both the Main rink and Annex rink, to offer arena visitors a better overall experience, whether watching from the stands or participating in on-ice activities. This project is expected to be conducted throughout the month of May.
Renovation of locker rooms in the Main Rink
The City will also be renovating the five locker rooms located in the Main rink, to bring up to date the amenities currently available to participants. These renovations are expected to begin in early May and will be completed by mid-August.
For all information about the Bob-Birnie arena, visit the arena’s page on our website.
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