According to media reports, several people familiar with the matter said that China TelecomThe equipment manufacturer Huawei has lowered its 2020 revenue target in India by as much as 50%, and plans to lay off 60%-70% of its staff, excluding staff in R&D and global service centers.
Huawei’s move is mainly to respond to the sharp decline in the demand for equipment and services in the Indian market. Huawei has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Huawei’s branch in India follows the Indian fiscal year. In 2017, Huawei India’s revenue was 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, and it has declined year after year. One of the main reasons is that the financial situation of the Indian telecommunications company itself is tight, which has led to a decline in demand. People familiar with the matter said that Huawei has set its 2020 India revenue target in the range of US$350 million to US$500 million, which is lower than the previous US$700 million to US$800 million range.
Huawei’s reason for lowering its revenue target is that the company does not expect two major telecom customers in India to place new orders. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea are Huawei’s two major telecommunications customers in the Indian market. People familiar with the matter said, “the company intends to reduce the number of full-time employees, contract workers and third-party employees in India.”
In the rest of Tamil Nadu, the cooperation between Huawei and Bharti Telecom is at stake. The latter may cooperate with Ericsson.Cooperation. Last year, it was reported that Huawei had lost orders from the Rajasthan region. Once Huawei loses its cooperation in the rest of Tamil Nadu, the cooperation between Huawei and Bharti Telecom will only be left to provide equipment for the two service areas of the telecom company.
”The layoffs mainly involve employees in the network support, on-site deployment, outsourcing and sales departments, because the telecom operators currently have no new projects or intentions to reach new cooperation,” a person familiar with the matter said.
Another person familiar with the matter said: “The company currently only needs a few people to maintain the annual contract it signed with the telecom operator. Those who are still in the company are very worried about their jobs because there are not many opportunities in the market.”
Huawei’s consumer business or mobile phone business in India has also been reduced. The company has not yet launched multiple devices in India.