Huawei is investing in a new technology project in France following its commitment to support 5G rollouts in Portugal, making yet another major statement of intent regarding its international focus which shifted from the United States to Europe half a year ago. The company’s rotating Chairman Ken Hu recently announced a new $1 million pledge to Paris, with that figure being meant to be spread out over a course of three years. The money will primarily be used to fund a content-sharing service created by the country’s national opera company, with the main goal of the initiative being finding a new, younger audience for one of the most classical forms of entertainment available in France.
The Paris Opera is also one of the city’s main symbols, hence being an attractive platform for Huawei to generate some extra publicity for its business. Following yet another unsuccessful attempt to penetrate the U.S. market with an AT&T partnership that fell apart this January, Huawei turned the majority of its overseas expansion ambitions to Europe, having previously also invested in the United Kingdom, in addition to committing significant resources to wireless carrier partnerships in the Balkans. That strategy is understood to already be paying off, with the ultra-premium P20 and P20 Plus flagships already selling over six million units after only three months.
The company’s long history of issues with stateside lawmakers, regulators, and companies is likely to keep it away from the U.S. in the foreseeable future, making additional European investments all the more likely. Huawei‘s next high-end product family is expected to be announced in the final quarter of the year, coming in the form of the Mate 20 series of Android smartphones. At least one member of the upcoming line should retain the triple-camera setup found on the P20 Plus, with many industry watchers already predicting a number of other handset makers like Samsung and LG will soon follow suit with that trend.