Huawei Vietnam CEO: 'We don't make smartwatches to sell together'

With more than ten years of experience working at Huawei, Mr. Li Fan - Country Director, Huawei Consumer Business Group Vietnam - assessed that Vietnamese customers are tech-savvy and willing to spend. This is still a key market for the group's long-term growth goals.

This is Mr. Li Fan's third year as the top leader of Huawei Vietnam's consumer division. He worked for the company in China for more than 10 years before being assigned to Malaysia and then taking over the Vietnamese market during the company's transformation period.

Despite the complicated market developments, Huawei has maintained a steady growth rate in its business lines. One of Mr. Li's greatest prides is conquering the young but demanding user group in the S-shaped country.

You started working in Vietnam in 2023. How has Huawei's consumer products changed during this period? How is the market different from the region?

- Vietnam is a “young” country and has a dynamic customer base, knowledgeable about technology, and willing to spend on suitable products. Therefore, this becomes a potential market, a driving force for Huawei as well as other “players” in the technology sector to develop their products.

At the time I arrived in Vietnam, the country was gradually recovering economically after the pandemic. In that period of development, the needs and consumption behavior of users with smart devices also changed a lot.

In recent years, outdoor sports such as jogging, or even more advanced ones such as cross-country, mountain biking, etc. are gradually becoming a new trend in training. Therefore, the need to own smart wearable devices to help manage health and support training is increasing. At the same time, users also have more and more stringent requirements for this product line.

We have also had many remarkable achievements in Vietnam in recent years. The domestic market consumed 1,500 high-end Huawei Watch 5 units, priced from 10 million VND in just one month of sale. This is the best achievement in the Asia- Pacific region (except China).

- Selling accessories, but not having a core product of phones. How does Huawei maintain a loyal and active community in Vietnam?

- I am happy and very proud that in Vietnam, Huawei maintains a loyal and vibrant customer community.

The company always tries to create direct or online touch points at every new product launch. This is how we convince Vietnamese customers with a close and real experience. Thereby forming a connection with the brand, creating a group of loyal users for the product in the future.

With each product, the company also tries to convey a unique story, creating harmony with the target customer group. For example, the HUAWEI MatePad tablet offers a “PC-Like” experience (computer-like performance), turning them into study and work assistants. In smart watch products, especially the HUAWEI WATCH GT series, the brand makes its mark with professional sports features while still maintaining a fashionable and sophisticated design language.

- From a large portfolio, Huawei currently sells only 3 main product lines in Vietnam: headphones, watches, and tablets. Is streamlining the models an obstacle for you?

- We believe that each improvement is essentially to better meet the urgent needs of users. That is a stepping stone for the stronger return of the next products in the future.

On the other hand, we see that headphones, tablets and smart wearables are products with strong growth rates in Vietnam. Huawei is a pioneer in innovation, to bring customers optimal technology at reasonable prices.

- Recently, Vietnamese users tend to pay more attention to health, especially outdoor sports activities such as jogging and cycling. How does this affect the company's business plan and watch sales?

This trend opens up a clear growth momentum for the wearables segment in general and Huawei in particular. For the company, this is not only a demand signal, but also the basis for us to orient our investments in wearables, smart watches and smart bracelets, from materials, design, to performance - accuracy in health measurement and sports training support, and other smart features. By the end of the second quarter of 2025, Huawei has maintained the No. 1 position globally in wearables market share for 2 consecutive quarters.

In addition, in each market, we also continuously deploy activities to create more touch points with users, especially the community of users who are passionate about sports and running.

With this strategy, Huawei has been able to address the increasingly diverse needs of users. At the same time, we have created a competitive advantage by enhancing the core experience. This has helped Huawei expand its market share in the smart wearable segment, making Vietnam one of the key markets for long-term growth.

Is Huawei under pressure to refresh its products every year as its user base grows and its demands become higher?

- That's inevitable. At Huawei, we don't chase after "annual innovation" just to create superficial changes. The company focuses on R&D (research and product development), bringing real improvements that meet users' needs.

Huawei devotes a huge amount of human resources, about 113,000 people, equivalent to 54.1% of the workforce, to this department. Along with that, R&D always accounts for a very large part of the group's total budget, accumulating to 2024 to reach 1,249 billion yuan (about 175 billion USD ). We currently own one of the largest patent portfolios in the world.

R&D is the foundation for innovation, product improvement, and serving global customer needs.

- What is the next development trend of smart watches?

- Modern smartwatches have gone far beyond their original role as time-displaying accessories or tracking some basic health parameters. The next trend we see is the gradual shift of smartwatches, becoming a true companion device for users not only in sports training, but also in monitoring, predicting, and early warning of health problems.

Let's talk about HUAWEI WATCH 5 again. It is truly a product that can bring a standalone user experience without the need for a phone thanks to its ability to connect to eSIM.

In addition, the X-TAP multi-sensor technology equipped on this watch line allows users to measure 11 health indicators with just one touch of the fingertip, such as HRV, ECG, emotional health, or even respiratory health. This brings a new breakthrough, appearing for the first time in health index measurement technology.

For Huawei, when developing smartwatches, we try to listen to the needs of users. Then, the company innovates and improves the products to bring more value.

- Tell us more about the brand's latest watch, what is the secret to the success of the WATCH GT line in Vietnam?

- The success of the HUAWEI WATCH GT Series in the Vietnamese market comes from the combination of technology, design and understanding of user needs. Right from its launch, we have positioned the product as a smart watch line for professional sports training, but still keeping its fashion, suitable for many styles.

Each new generation of WATCH GT not only improves our health and fitness tracking technology, but also adds new innovations for the first time, making it a companion that opens up even more special experiences.

For example, based on users' usage habits, such as exercising for many consecutive days or frequently going on long business trips, we realized that the need for a smartwatch with a durable usage time is very clear. With HUAWEI WATCH GT 6 Series, we equipped the first Hi-Silicon battery in the smartwatch industry. The new watch has a significantly increased battery capacity, improving charging time while keeping the watch light weight. As a result, users can wear HUAWEI WATCH GT 6 Series continuously for up to 21 days before needing to charge.

- In the market, Apple or Samsung seem to have an advantage because they have a mobile ecosystem, making it easy to sell watches. How does the GT 6 Series convince users without a smartphone?

- As we said, we do not create smart watches to be “sold” accessories, but to become a technological friend - an assistant that always accompanies users in all activities of life. And a true companion should not be limited to any ecosystem. That is why we always focus on the compatibility factor in our products.

Over the years, Huawei has continued to improve the connectivity of its products. Each generation of watches has been optimized to pair seamlessly with both Android and iOS devices, while maintaining stability and full functionality. This is a testament to the commitment to developing open technology to serve a variety of user needs.

Source: https://znews.vn/ceo-huawei-viet-nam-chung-toi-khong-lam-smartwatch-de-ban-kem-post1592651.html