One of the most technologically advanced Chinese telecom companies–Huawei–reportedly ventured into technology for pig farming to make up for the low smartphone sales. Around two years back, Huawei was among the top three largest smartphone makers in the world along with Apple and Samsung. However, the trade sanctions on its smartphone business by the Donald Trump administration have hurt the company greatly.
Huawei saw a massive drop of 42% in its smartphone sales in Q4 2020 as supply of chips were limited due to the sanctions.
In order to make up for the loss of revenue in its smartphone business, Huawei is reportedly working on artificial intelligence technology for pig farm houses, as per a report by BBC.
As the world is moving towards 5G, Huaewei has been literally locked out despite having some of the most advanced 5G technologies. The telecom equipment maker is not allowed to do business with American companies and other countries, including the UK, have avoided Huawei due to fears that the company may have links with the Chinese government. As for smartphones, Huawei is mostly stuck at providing 4G smartphones.
So, if not 5G and smartphones what else can Huawei do? Along with mobiles and gadgets, pig farming is another big industry in China. It is claimed that China has the world’s largest pig farming industry.
Huawei is reportedly developing AI-based facial recognition technology to identity and monitor pigs. Also, other technologies to monitor the health of pigs and their diet.
“Pig farming is yet another example of how we try to revitalise some traditional industries with ICT (Information and Communications Technology) technologies to create more value for the industries in the 5G era,” a Huawei spokesman told BBC.
Apart from pig farming, Huawei is also focusing on the mining industry. The company’s founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei has already announced a “mining innovation lab” in northern China.