Two of China’s smartphone heavyweights, Huawei and Xiaomi, have joined forces. They’ve put previous disagreements behind them and have now shaken hands on a global patent cross-licensing agreement. This deal will cover some of the latest tech, including 5G.
The Head of Huawei’s Intellectual Property Department, Alan Fan, expressed his enthusiasm, noting that the agreement demonstrates the industry’s respect for Huawei’s innovations in the telecommunications sector. He remarked that this will further boost the company’s future mobile technology research efforts.
These two tech giants have always been at odds with each other. Huawei, which leads the global race in 5G patents, had sued Xiaomi over some tech disputes. However, all of that is now history.
Xiaomi’s, General Manager of Corporate Business Development and IP strategy, Xu Ran, viewed this agreement as a sign of mutual respect for each other’s technological contributions.
Both companies are eyeing the top spot in the premium smartphone market, a space dominated by Apple. Huawei’s latest phones, the Mate 60 Pro series, come powered by its own Kirin 9000s processor. This has not only impressed the local Chinese crowd but also served as proof of China’s tech capabilities amidst US sanctions.
Meanwhile, Xiaomi’s CEO, Lei Jun, is quite ambitious. Last month, he announced his dream to outpace Apple. He’s planning to invest over $13.7 billion into tech research over the next five years. Xiaomi also is on a hiring spree, possibly hinting at developing its own core tech for smartphones.
Huawei has invested a massive amount in technology research and development over the last ten years. With a large portfolio of patents, it earned $560 million in patent royalties last year alone.
Both brands have previously signed similar deals with big names like Ericsson, Oppo, Samsung, and Nokia. Such partnerships, as market analyst Amber Liu pointed out, only mean good things for consumers.
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