Fashion
Huawei, China’s top-tier handset and networking infrastructure business operator, is basking in the limelight for its partnership with Shinsegae, a former Samsung Group affiliate and the nation’s second-largest retailer.
The partnership is also eye-catching as Huawei has icy relations with its rival Samsung Electronics following a series of lawsuits between the two.
Shinsegae, which separated from Samsung Group in 1991, had been a decades-long retail services operator of Samsung. Shinsegae Group Chairman Lee Myung-hee is the younger sister of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee.
The partnership was announced last week when Huawei officially named Shinsegae I&C, the IT-based platform service affiliated with the retail giant, as its sole distributor in Korea, to speed up penetration into the market here.
Given that Samsung and Huawei are engaging in legal battles, critics said the partnership is quite “unexpected.”
In May, Huawei filed a patent lawsuit against Samsung Electronics in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, claiming that the Korean electronics firm infringed on Huawei’s wireless patents without licensing.
In response, Samsung Electronics countersued Huawei and a department store in Beijing last month, claiming some $24.14 million in damages.
Amid the chilly relationship, Huawei held a press conference last week to launch the sales of its two-in-one portable PC, MateBook, in Korea. The company also announced its partnership with Shinsegae I&C whose retail clients include renowned global information and communication technology (ICT) companies such as Google, Hewlett-Packard and JBL.
“Huawei joined hands with Shinsegae I&C, as the Chinese company appreciates our capability in managing global ICT firms,” said a Shinsegae manager. “We have nothing to comment on why Huawei chose the former Samsung affiliate despite its current estranged relationship with Samsung Electronics.”
He said the partnership came as Shinsegae has a nationwide foothold to distribute devices by using its e-mart discount chains.
Huawei established its Korean branch in 2007, but has so far failed to attract huge attention with its consumer electronics products — including smartphones and laptops. Expectations are that the Chinese handset giant aimed to stop the decade-long weak profile here by signing a partnership with the strong retail giant, regardless of its relationship with Samsung.
There are only a few “hit” Huawei products here — including its budget handset Y6 introduced earlier this year. But the phone failed to gain wider interest, as the country’s smallest mobile carrier LG Uplus was the exclusive distributor for the smartphone.
Huawei Korea officials were unavailable for comment over the specific reasons for the partnership.
