Huawei is turning to technology for pig farmers as it deals with stricter restrictions on its smartphones.
He was deported by the Trump administration to the U.S. The Chinese telecom giant was barred from accessing key components after being deemed a threat to national security.
In response to struggling smartphone sales, Huawei is looking at other sources of revenue for its technology.
Along with Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology for pig farmers, Huawei is also working with the coal mining industry.
Former US President Donald Trump has claimed that Huawei could share customer data with the Chinese government, a claim he has repeatedly denied.
As a result, the world’s largest telecom equipment manufacturer is limited to making 4G models, as it lacks U.S. government permission to import 5G models Dello components.
Huawei’s smartphone sales fell 42% in the last quarter of 2020 as it struggled with a limited supply of microchips due to sanctions.
Amid fears of national security, Huawei has also been shut down by 5G development in several countries, including the UK.
Reports suggest it will reduce its smartphone production by 60% this year, although it said it could not confirm the figure.
A company spokesman told the BBC: “The issue here is not that there is a problem with our quality or experience of Huawei’s products. It is not a level playing field for Huawei as Huawei is mired in geopolitical tensions.”
And so, Huawei seems to be looking for other sources of revenue – moving into cloud computing services, smart vehicles and wearable devices. It also has plans for smart cars.
But his eye is also on a few more traditional industries.
Pig farming
China has the world’s largest pig rearing industry and is home to half the world’s live hogs.
The technology is helping to modernize pig farms with AI in which diseases and pigs have been introduced.
Facial recognition technology can identify individual pigs, while other techniques monitor their weight, diet, and exercise.
Huawei is already developing facial recognition technology in pedestrian images and last month faced criticism for a system that identifies people who appear in pedestrian images of people of Uighur origin.
Other Chinese tech giants, including JD.com and Alibaba, are already working with pig farmers in China to bring in new technologies.
A Huawei spokesperson added, “Pig farming is another example of how we try to bring some traditional industries to life through ICT (Information and Communication Technology) to make the industry more valuable in the 5th era.”
Mining coal and data
Earlier this month, Huawei’s founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei announced the Mining Innovation Lab in the northern Chinese province of Shanxi.
It seeks to develop technology for coal mines that will lead to “workers, more safety and higher efficiency” and enable coal miners to “wear suits and ties” at work.
During a round table meeting at the event, Mr. Ren said the company is also expanding into consumer products such as televisions, computers and tablets.
“We can still survive without relying on phone sales,” Mr Ren said, adding that the US was unlikely to remove Huawei from the blacklist, barring companies from working with the Chinese tech company.
