Huawei sold 75 million smartphones in 2014.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Huawei chief executive Ren Zhengfei has categorically denied allegations that his company has spied on other countries for the Chinese government.
In an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zhengfei made a concerted effort to alleviate any concerns that the company was a tool of Beijing used to compromise Western companies.
“Why would I want to take someone’s data? Who would give me money for it,” he asked, remarking that the company merely provides the “simple-minded pipes” that power the Internet.
Zhengfei added that Huawei had never received any sort of demands from the Chinese government to spy on the U.S.
“We can’t possibly penetrate into other systems,” he added, downplaying the scenario completely.
Huawei, which is the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer in the world, has denied Congressional accusations that the company includes “backdoors” in its products that could be utilized for international espionage.
To date, no evidence has been publicly presented to contradict Huawei’s stance, but the allegations have led to increased scrutiny in other nations allied with the United States such as the U.K. and Australia. However, if the U.S. intelligence community knows something, they surely aren’t sharing it with the masses yet.
Last year, American and German media cited documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden showing the National Security Agency had surreptitiously accessed Huawei’s networks, email archives, and communiqués between senior executives.
Much of Huawei’s revenue stems from smart devices, cloud computing, and big data. The Shenzen-based company said earlier this month it expects sales to rise 15 percent to $46 billion this year after selling 75 million smartphones in 2014.
Huawei’s products and services have been deployed in over 140 countries and it has served 45 of the world’s 50 largest telecom operators.