Huawei unveils mobile development programme for UK and Irish business

Aiming to support the business digital transformation efforts of firms in both countries, mobile technology giant Huawei has announced a dedicated £20m investment plan to help promote developers working with Huawei Mobile Services and intending to join its App Gallery in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

At its first UK and Ireland Huawei Developer Conference, the company made the announcement as part of a general strategy to connect with businesses across the countries and offer a technological system that will enable them to access and grow their user base and build new revenue streams.

The power of mobile in digital transformation is huge. Research from App Annie has revealed a booming mobile app sector, with mobile ad spend set to reach $240bn in 2020, up 26% year-on-year (YoY), and the total consumer and mobile spend is projected to be $380bn by the end of the year.

It also found that consumers downloaded 1.7 billion business apps and spent more than $500m in the apps in 2019, up 10% and 25% YoY respectively. According to App Annie, this is an indication of increasing demand for business apps and willingness to pay for the value they provide.

Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) is set to become the third largest global mobile ecosystem and already boasts four million users in the UK and 600 million mobile active users across more than 170 countries, including 68 million in Europe. More than 50,000 apps have been integrated within the HMS Core.

Huawei will provide UK and Irish businesses with the opportunity to access multiple markets, including remote access to the Chinese market. HMS also presents the potential opportunity of direct access to hardware and artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

The tech firm also announced the launch of 24 HMS Core Kits. These are designed to provide businesses and developers with access to open developer kits for an exceptional user experience when developing and then integrating their apps into the Huawei App Gallery. The tools will allow businesses to create the next generation of apps, integrate them into the Huawei App Gallery, and ultimately prepare for what Huawei calls the fast-approaching, fully connected future.

These developer kits are set up in app categories, such as the Wallet Kit, Drive Kit and Health Kit, so that developers can create user experiences for specific apps.

The kits encompass scan, awareness and machine learning (ML) technology to provide developers with the opportunity to give sets access to QR and other barcodes around them, provide real-time travel updates and utilise machine learning to give visual and language services.

They also use map and location kits to offer precise user locations with the speed and accuracy of multiple methods, as well as allow user personalisation for maps and routing planning; and an in-app purchases and account kit, built to support revenue growth and allow developers to monetise their apps. In addition, the push and analytics kit will help developers to analyse their data, helping them to understand user behaviour and gain in-depth insight about their audience, products and content.

The investment is part of a wider global plan, presented by Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group, in September 2019, which provides a total investment of $3bn. Huawei UK and Ireland is immediately offering the chance to claim a £20,000 financial incentive for any app uploaded to the Huawei App Gallery by 31 January 2020.

Commenting on the investment plan, Anson Zhang, managing director of Huawei UK’s consumer business group, said: “[This] announcement concerning our Huawei Mobile Services offering highlights our ongoing commitment and support for UK and Irish businesses and developers.

“In recent years, we have grown significantly and owe our success to the consumers and partners who have chosen and believed in us. As a sign of that support and commitment to the UK and Irish market, we have announced our £20m investment plan to recognise and incentivise our partners, so that we can build an outstanding ecosystem together.

“Ultimately, we envision an all-scenario intelligent consumer experience for the future of Huawei Mobile Services and will provide businesses and developers with the opportunity to reach new audiences, expand and monetise, as they prepare for the fully connected world,” he said.