Huawei, a leading smartphone vendor, has announced that it will invest €70 million over a five-year period to establish a research and development (R&D) center in Helsinki, Finland. The strategic investment reflects Huawei’s deep and long-term commitment to Europe and will strengthen the company’s R&D capabilities, augmenting to over 70 000 employees currently engaged in R&D worldwide.

The Finnish R&D center, which will likely employ numerous ex-Nokia workers, will be a key driver in Huawei’s research and development of new technologies for mobile devices. Initial projects will focus on software development for smartphones, tablets and rich-media devices, optimizing the user experience of existing operating systems such as Google Android and Microsoft Windows Phone 8. From the outset, Huawei plans to recruit 30 employees for the center, with the goal of hiring more than 100 employees over five years.

"We believe the key to building our brand is to provide consumers with a reliable and differentiated user experience. The open and innovative environment in Finland is an ideal place for Huawei to strengthen our global R&D capabilities for devices, creating opportunities for both Huawei and the Finnish telecommunications industry," said Kenneth Fredriksen, vice-president of Huawei central, eastern and nordic Europe.

Over the past 10 years, Huawei has grown significantly in Europe, particularly due to the region’s open economy and foreign investment initiatives, and is committed to further increase its investment in the region. In September 2012, Huawei announced a $2 billion investment in R&D, local procurement and center of excellence initiatives in the United Kingdom. Huawei currently employs more than 7000 people across Europe.

The R&D center in Helsinki will serve as one of Huawei’s core centers for device R&D, joining an already established modem and technology design center in Sweden and a user interface research center in the United Kingdom.

Tags: Huawei