TODAY

A graduate in Information Engineering from National Wuhan University, Mr Thomas Liu residing in Bangkok is President to the company’s operations in 14 SEA countries. He is well experienced in European Telecom Industry. Out of Yangon branch he will oversee Huawei Devices for Lower Myanmar, while Mandalay branch takes such care for upper Myanmar.

Current Responsibility…
In mid-2013 I was transferred to Bangkok to take up management of Huawei’s SEA operations. The region specifically is; Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao, Maldives and Bhutan- that is, the whole South-east Asia.

How many new products Huawei usually introduce in a year?
For Premium Market it is P series in summer, and there is Mate Series in winter. P series tends to be innovative, and is mostly favoured by the youth. The Mate Series is preferred by business men. Almost every month the Mass Market sees some new products of ours. Lately Huawei has been producing Wearable Devices.

How it goes keeping Huawei Brand for Long….
In SEA Region that purpose is being fulfilled by VVIP service. At our After Sales Service Center, an out-of-order phone would be corrected within three days. If not, the com-plainant’s phone will be replaced with a new one of the same kind. It is our current practice in Thailand and Myanmar.

According to GFK Report, Huawei’s share in Myanmar Market is topmost at about 60 percent. The company’s share in Chinese market is said to be 13.6 percent, but compared to others, it is No 1 essentially.

Huawei devices sold in SEA last year, including 3-million-plus Smartphanes, were more than 10 million. We project to sell 8 million Smartphones this year, an increase of 160 percent. Huawei will make customer friendly products. We cannot control the market, but will be controlled by end-user\ customers. Myanmar is a top-level market to Huawei SEA.

Differences between European Market and SEA market
European market is rather stable while SEA Region market is one of the fastest growing. SEA Region is completely different from Eur-ope in sales behaviour, consumenr behaviour and aftersales behaviour. Growth is slowing down in Europe. Maybe we are dynamic ten times more. While European customers have used the smartphone since ten years ago, it still remains imporant for potential SEA customers to be shown the uses of it. Here Man-power, After-Sales Center, Local Headoffice and other services are needed.

Is Huawei Phone’s quality in European market different from Asian market?
In Asia or Europe, Huawei Phone’s quality goes in the same direction, for the same standard. Whatever the market, developed or developing, Huawei products have one and the same quality. There’s no reduction of Quality Standard, no Technology Gap.

In Myanmar, is Huawei to do business in partnership with operators?
Our phone with Open Market System acco-mmodates the networks of all Operatars. In most other countries, different operators with different technoloies are functioning. Thus a phone’s compatibility with the relevant network needs to be ascertained before buying it. So Smart-phones are more easily introduced into Myan-mar than other countries. Smantphone prices remain different based on Open Market and Operator Based Market. So do the communi-cation costs based on those markets.

2016 Promotion Program for Myanmar
All our projects implemented in Europe and China will be repeated in Myanmar. Ours is 360 Degree Marketing Behaviour here. Mainly it will be Retail Marketing.

Strengths and weaknesses of Huawei Myanmar staff…
I first arrived in Myanmar in 2013. Even then the local co-workers were found to be ambitious and efficient. They speak better English than the Chinese. They have diligence and team spirit. Moreover we are training them to have leadership and management abilities. And they can learn online at Huawei University.

Challenges and difficulties Huawei faced with in Myanmar
My peers abroad who are to come to Myanmar should learn Myanmar Language. All the better if they are bilingual with English and Myanmar languages. While at Huawei office in Germany, I learned German and gave better service to German customers.

The root cause for Huawei Company’s long-lived existenec
Huawei Company Founded in 1987 is now 27-year-old. The root cause for its longevity is being oriented towards Customer, initiated by founder Mr Ren (Ren Zhengfei). Customer’s complaint is never neglected but we correct it to his satisfaction.

Your view on post-2015 Telecom Market
Southeast Asia’s Telecom Market is growing very fast. Therefore companies not serving Customers well, those which are not innovative, and smaller companies will fall behind. Later on, only big companies will survive.
The market for Tech always look to the future. Tech cost is so high that Europe is still burdened with 30- year- old technology. But developing countries are enjoying direct access to high tech. So in about five years Asian countries should surpass Europe in technology, I think.