“None of us is as smart as all of us,” author Ken Blanchard once said. Nowhere is this more true than in the case of the Chinese tech giant, Huawei: The Chinese surely understand the power of shared thinking and listening. They are among the best listeners I’ve met – a rare quality today. The result is that Huawei, little known a year ago, is today selling millions and millions of smartphones around the world, across continents and oceans. And they have not said their last word: The Huawei folks are possibility thinkers who believe they can succeed in beating Apple and Samsung in five years or so. To achieve this goal – this impossible dream – they constantly think in terms of “We can, we will and we are!”

To become a global leader, Huawei has a simple plan (and of course the money to achieve it): bring together the world’s best talents and resources to develop its global innovation capabilities. Last October, for example, Huawei appointed Ms. Abigail Sarah Brody, former Apple’s creative director, as chief designer of User Experience (UX).

Of the 170,000 persons employed by Huawei, 76,500 work in Research & Development (R&D) around the world, including Paris, London, Moscow, Tokyo and Delhi. The ambitions of Huawei are clear: “Our goal is to take the lead in research, innovation, and implementation”. One young Huawei engineer told me after his presentation, «We assume that there is probably a better way to do almost everything.» If the pace of today›s world does not encourage reflective thinking, at Huawei, people act and think. The Shenzhen-headquartered company’s total R&D investment over the past decade exceeds US$37 billion. If the first responsibility of leaders is to define reality, Huawei attempts on a daily basis to change reality...

“From smartphones, connected cars, wearables to smart cities, mobile technology innovation continues to evolve, profoundly changing the relationship between humans and the world. Through continued aggressive investment in R&D, coupled with the brightest technical minds and talent, we are poised to create tomorrow’s technology that will serve and empower mankind,” emphasises Mr. Shao Yang, the president of Strategy Marketing, Huawei Consumer Business Group (BG).

With cutting-edge technology and stylish designs, Huawei endeavours to bring a superior hardware and software experience to consumers. When you are an unknown company, you do not have any other option but compete with the best: Apple and Samsung. This has fueled rapid business growth. The result is that one million Mate 8 smartphones were sold within one month of the launch, the Mate S and Nexus 6P were top sellers in over 60 countries and more than 40 million Honor smartphones were shipped to over 70 countries and regions.

One acclaimed illustration of the result of the Huawei’s focus on innovation is the recently launched P9 and P9 Plus, the fruit of the partnership between Huawei and Leica. For more than a century, Leica has been regarded as the global leader in imaging, trusted by generations of the world’s best photographers to capture history’s most iconic moments, from space exploration to defining political events.“The new Huawei P9 and P9 Plus smartphones set a new standard in user experience and quality, delivering industry-leading innovations and an exceptional design for millions of consumers who not only want, but expect the very best,” states Huawei’s Global Vice President, Product Marketing – Consumer Business Group, Clement Wong.

The P9 and P9 Plus are the world’s first smartphones with built-in depth measurement integrated circuits, resulting in increased image focusing speed and processing. The dedicated Depth Measurement chip also helps improve power consumption and smartphone performance by reducing the workload of the central processor (CPU). Furthermore, to gain a distinct competitive edge in the future, Huawei has set up the 2012 Laboratories, which function as the innovation, research, and platform technology development arm of the company. Huawei works closely with partners from the industry, academia and research institutes.

The number of international patent applications submitted to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) reached 218,000 last year, setting a new record, according to a press release of WIPO on 16 March. Huawei Technology retained its leading position among global enterprises and was ranked first for the second year with 3,898 applications, followed by Qualcomm with 2,442 applications and China’s ZTE with 2,155 applications.

In Shenzhen, I could feel the enthusiasm and the power of creative and possibility thinking. The Huawei people have the will, confidence and ability to succeed. A lot will now depend on whether the US Apple and the South Korean Samsung will simply sit back and let Huawei rise and overtake them. To be honest, I don’t think they will. It will be a great match between tech giants for us to watch.

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