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Huawei Launches New Software Brand for Intelligent Driving

FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is seen outside its headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 17, 2012. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is seen outside its headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 17, 2012. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo
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Huawei Launches New Software Brand for Intelligent Driving

FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is seen outside its headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 17, 2012. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: The logo of the Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is seen outside its headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, April 17, 2012. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

Chinese tech company Huawei unveiled on Wednesday a new software brand for intelligent driving, marking its latest push to become a major player in the electric vehicle industry.
The new brand Qiankun, symbolizing a combination of heaven and the Kunlun Mountains, plans to provide self-driving systems involving the driving chassis, audio and driver's seat, Jin Yuzhi, CEO of Huawei's Intelligent Automotive Solution (IAS) business unit, said during an event ahead of the Beijing auto show.
"2024 will be the first year for mass commercialization of smart driving and the cumulative number of cars on road equipped with the Huawei self-driving system will top 500,000 by the year-end," Reuters quoted Jin as saying.
He also expected within a year more than 10 car models adopting Huawei’s Qiankun system would hit the market.
The Shenzhen-based tech conglomerate launched its smart car unit in 2019 with the aim that it could become the equivalent of German automotive supplier Bosch of the intelligent EV era and supply software and components to partners.
Huawei said in November that the unit would be spun off into a new company which would receive the unit's core technologies and resources and take investment from partners such as automaker Changan Auto.
It has also unveiled seven EV models in partnership with Chinese automakers so far and they are selling well, Jin said.
They include three Aito brand models under partnership with Seres, the Luxeed S7 sedan co-developed with Chery , two models with Changan Auto-backed Avatr and one with Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC)-owned Arcfox.
On Tuesday, Huawei also unveiled the S9 sedan, the first model under the premium Stelato brand it launched with BAIC.
Its diversification into EVs comes amid an intensifying price war in the world's largest auto market, which is grappling with slowing sales momentum and deepening overcapacity concerns as more than 40 brands vie for consumer attention.
Earlier this month, Huawei-backed Aito offered discounts of up to 20,000 yuan ($2,760) on its new M7 SUVs until the end of April.

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Facebook Added 'Value' to Instagram, Zuckerberg Tells Antitrust Trial

Mark Zuckerberg has made repeated visits to the White House as he tried to persuade the US president to choose settlement instead of fighting the trial - AFP
Mark Zuckerberg has made repeated visits to the White House as he tried to persuade the US president to choose settlement instead of fighting the trial - AFP
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Facebook Added 'Value' to Instagram, Zuckerberg Tells Antitrust Trial

Mark Zuckerberg has made repeated visits to the White House as he tried to persuade the US president to choose settlement instead of fighting the trial - AFP
Mark Zuckerberg has made repeated visits to the White House as he tried to persuade the US president to choose settlement instead of fighting the trial - AFP

Social media titan Mark Zuckerberg testified for a second day Tuesday in a landmark US antitrust trial, defending his conglomerate Meta against accusations it took over Instagram and WhatsApp to devour budding competitors.

The federal court trial in Washington has dashed Zuckerberg's hopes that the return of President Donald Trump to the White House would see the government let up on the enforcement of antitrust law against Big Tech.

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) attorney Daniel Matheson showed Zuckerberg emails from 2012 in which Facebook's former chief financial officer listed possible reasons for buying start-ups like Instagram, including "neutralizing a competitor."

Zuckerberg sidestepped commenting on the role of competitive pressure, instead playing up the ability of Facebook to improve features, user numbers and revenue, AFP reported.

"Instagram integration ended up going very well; we were able to add way more value to Instagram than we would have expected," Zuckerberg testified.

"After that, we basically felt more confident that we could identify other social apps, potentially acquire them and grow them faster (than they would have on their own)."

Zuckerberg said he believes that if Snapchat had accepted Facebook's buyout offer in 2013 it would now have billions of users.

Snapchat ended last year with about 450 million daily users.

"For what it's worth, I think we would have accelerated their growth," Zuckerberg said of Snapchat.

The case could see Meta forced to divest of Instagram and WhatsApp, which have grown into global powerhouses since their buyout.

It was originally filed in December 2020, during the first Trump administration, and all eyes were on whether the Republican would ask the FTC to stand down.

Zuckerberg, the world's third-richest person, has made repeated visits to the White House as he tried to persuade the president to choose settlement instead of fighting the trial.

As part of his lobbying efforts, Zuckerberg contributed to Trump's inauguration fund and overhauled content moderation policies. He also purchased a $23 million mansion in Washington in what was seen as a bid to spend more time close to the center of political power.

- 'Really scary' -

Central to the case is Facebook's 2012 billion-dollar purchase of Instagram -- then a small but promising photo-sharing app that now boasts two billion active users.

An email from Zuckerberg cited by the FTC showed him depicting Instagram's emergence as "really scary," adding that is "why we might want to consider paying a lot of money for this."

In his first day of testimony Monday, Zuckerberg downplayed those exchanges as early talk before plans for Instagram came together.

But the FTC argues that Meta's $19 billion WhatsApp acquisition in 2014 followed the same pattern, with Zuckerberg fearing the messaging app could either transform into a social network or be purchased by a competitor.

Meta's defense attorneys counter that substantial investments transformed these acquisitions into the blockbusters they are today.

They also highlight that Meta's apps are free for users and face fierce competition.

FTC attorney Matheson said in opening remarks that Facebook "decided that competition is too hard and it would be easier to buy out their rivals than to compete with them."

Meta attorney Mark Hansen countered in his first salvo that "acquisitions to improve and grow an acquired firm" are not unlawful in the United States, saying that is what Facebook did.

A key part of the courtroom battle will be how the FTC defines Meta's market.

The US government argues that Facebook and Instagram are dominant players in apps that provide a way to connect with family and friends, a category that does not include TikTok and YouTube.

But Meta disagrees.

When asked about Facebook and Instagram main competition, Zuckerberg named Google-owned YouTube and China-based sensation TikTok because video "is the primary way people share content."

On the video front, Meta has a lot of catching up to do, Zuckerberg told the court.