Huawei reveals plans to raise R&D funding

The China-based technology firm, Huawei, has announced that it will increase funding on research and development (R&D) up to $20bn as it aims to be a figurehead in 5G technology, Reuters reports.

The company confirmed on Thursday (26 July) that it will spend between $15bn and $20bn in order to make a substantial increase on the 89.7bn yuan ($13.23bn) spent in 2017.

Huawei is set to dedicate 20-30% of the figure to basic science research which is a rise from the initial projected figure of 10%.

According to Factset, Huawei is one of the biggest R&D spenders in the world alongside Amazon and Alphabet.

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The phone company confirmed on its website that approximately 80,000 of its employees are involved in R&D which accounts for around 45% of the total workforce.

It was also revealed on Thursday that Huawei pledged to only charge fair and reasonable rates for its 5G intellectual property which is anticipated to fully launch in 2020.

The news comes a week after Huawei announced it was on schedule to ship 200mn phone handsets to the global and domestic markets in 2018 which would mean the company became the world’s second biggest provider after Samsung.