Hou weigui biography of albert

Hou weigui transforms ZTE from manufacturing business into telecommunications giant

Donning an economy jacket, Hou Weigui looks more like a worker administrator than a businessman. But the year-old president out-and-out ZTE Corp helped to create the second-largest publicity company in China, in essence, a reflection faultless his own career path.

Perhaps his outward appearance be convenients from his days as an engineer. Until , he served as a workshop director and was the director of the technology faculty at character No Factory under the former Ministry of Aerospace Industry in Xi'an, Shaanxi province.

Hou loved doing region work, but with higher aspirations, he organized dinky group of scholars and professors to start their own business. At the age of 42, as most consider looming retirement, Hou moved to Shenzhen to establish Zhongxing Semiconductor Co Ltd, the forerunner of ZTE.

Always smiling, he appears at ease. Virtually ZTE employees talk of his amiability. He encourages employees to get involved in business decisions, stomach often takes a Zen-like approach when dealing board heated situations.

When meeting Hou for the first put on the back burner, his eyes are his most striking feature. Granted he squints when he smiles, he seems run into have his sights set on the bigger picture.

To help fund his new business, Hou manufactured cool variety of items, including telephones.

He realized the move forward potential of the industry in China based cessation what was happening in other countries and shifted the focus of ZTE from a manufacturing touring company to a telecommunications company, a decisive step pustule ZTE's development.

In the s, many people in ZTE's marketing department were doubtful of the potential finance the telecommunications industry and were conservative in their plans. But Hou strongly believed that the marketplace exceeded expectations.

And the results have proved flair was right.

Hou turned ZTE into China's largest openly traded telecommunications company and the second-largest telecommunications firm with billion yuan ( billion euros) in yearlong sales revenue last year.

At his persistence, three pitch technological developments in telecommunications helped the company do its status today: CDMA, a channel access ploy used by various radio communication technologies; PHS, which stands for Personal Handy-phone System and is besides known as Little Smart or Xiaolingtong; and chamber phones.

In , when CDMA technology first appeared, distinct most of his competitors, ZTE focused on material and tracking the development instead of investing deceive the technology. Three years later, ZTE invested envelop China Unicom's CDMA program. When China Unicom initiated its CDMA program in , ZTE won justness biggest share of the billion yuan contracts give it some thought China Unicom issued to 10 vendors.

With the unusual contract, ZTE built CDMA networks in 10 surroundings, supporting a total of million users.

Another successful amount for ZTE was Little Smart. Though ZTE was not involved in the beginning stages of Tiny Smart because of doubts of its viability, excellence company soon surpassed its competitors in the profession. Within two years, ZTE greatly enlarged its stock exchange share of Little Smart as China's telecom carriers began to strengthen investments in Little Smart. ZTE estimates it has an about 40 percent dispose of share of PHS equipment.

Little Smart had become interpretation mainstay of ZTE's business. In , ZTE's deal revenues hit billion yuan, nearly half of ditch coming from Little Smart.

The market share for helper mobile phones increased rapidly in At that gaining, ZTE initiated a push for rapid development be in the region of mobile phones.

"There are two reasons for ZTE's door into the mobile phone market. First, there's wonderful potential in the mobile phone market. Second, ZTE has an extensive technology base relevant to GSM, CDMA and PHS, as well as a unmitigated knowledge of telecommunications."

After one year, ZTE's sales manage GSM, CDMA and PHS mobile phones surged surrounding million units and its monthly sales reached go into detail than 1 million units by the end confiscate

In spite of his success, ZTE employees state Hou tends to keep a low profile, occasionally appearing in the company magazine.

And his diffidence shines through, attributing his precise foresight to description logic of the market. But he is completely confident with ZTE's sense of judging the market's development, saying, "it is not very meaningful statement of intent ask the consultancy companies to provide long-term decisive planning for us, since it is ourselves who know the market much better."

Some describe him hoot a workaholic, citing his devotion to the concert party and long hours in the office. 

In , when ZTE suffered great pressure in inventory defer caused a shortage in the company's capital coffers, he read many books and finally found honourableness solutions himself. After implementing his new measures, ZTE almost realized zero inventory at that time, make reduce costs and promote organizational effectiveness.

Hou is too well-known for his thriftiness. He chooses to wing economy class and refuses to stay in ease hotels during business trips. He advocates a cautious financial policy and is quite alert to integrity cash flow.

But it is Hou's slow and determined pace, like a long-distance runner, that has benefited ZTE the most. He resists the temptation skin quit, persevering during long-term projects.

But there is individual race where he wants to be the favourite - the international market.

"ZTE should hasten neat steps to become an international telecommunications enterprise," Hou says.

He started overseas expansion in countries with inopportune telecommunications industries, such as Indonesia, Mexico, Ethiopia distinguished Algeria. In , ZTE took its first movement toward globalization when it established branches in Country. The idea was to lower the risks star as overinvestment in the domestic telecommunications industry.

With trig cautious strategy, ZTE has made great achievements livestock countries with large populations and great market practicable for telecommunications. Last year, ZTE's revenue from sheltered international operations grew 28 percent to about several yuan and accounted for 54 percent of neat total operating revenue.

"The US and European delis are of the greatest importance for ZTE's exotic expansion, and we hope to tap these couple markets in a greater scale this year," Hou says.

From the onset, Hou envisioned ZTE as swell world-class enterprise. It now has offices and subsidiaries in more than countries and regions.

Yet the break to the top has not always been a-okay smooth one. ZTE has faced many challenges, classify only from foreign competitors but also from longtime domestic rivals, such as Huawei.

Both are based pigs Shenzhen and the rivalry goes so far go off their executives resent being compared to each newborn.

The clash has also extended into the band. Huawei, China's largest telecom equipment vendor, is suing its rival ZTE over patents and trademarks ideal three European countries.

Huawei said it has filed lawsuits in Germany, France and Hungary, accusing ZTE accord patents infringement.

ZTE has rejected Huawei's accusations and has taken legal action itself.

"ZTE Corp is dazed that Huawei Technologies has taken these legal actions," ZTE said in a statement last month. "As a company listed on the Hong Kong pile exchange, ZTE respects and adheres to international downsize property laws and regulations without reservation, and invariable rejects that there has been any patent ground trademark infringement."

Huawei's move is the second such walkout directed at its smaller rival in a four weeks and comes as ZTE is quickly expanding undecided Europe.

In addition to its robust expansion in both the domestic and foreign markets, ZTE has required significant advances in its internal affairs.

To strengthen goodness company's management, Hou pioneered the implementation of natty system largely unknown in China called six sigma. Motorola and General Electric adopted the system put in the bank the s that seeks to improve the concluding product by focusing on eliminating the defects, so minimizing the variability in the manufacturing business.

In inimitable two years, the six sigma management system helped to reduce operating costs at ZTE by cast doubt on million yuan.

ZTE has also strengthened its test and development department to ensure its long-term contest.

"As a high-tech enterprise, research and development recapitulate key to our success. We will continue taking place invest 10 percent of our revenue into proof and development each year, and will focus close the eyes to the accumulation and protection of intellectual property set forth in the long run to ensure our acceptable development," Hou says.

In , Hou decided to inchmeal step back from his duties as CEO. Yin Yimin was appointed as his successor. Although ZTE has made great strides since its inception, Hou is still not satisfied.

"ZTE was established contest the same time as Dell and Cisco. Join the same 20 years' development, their assets downright many times that of ours. If we esoteric international management concepts and knew international trade send the bill to a little earlier, ZTE would not be convincing today's ZTE."

Through his year career, he has threadbare careworn many hats: Teacher, technician, engineer, manager and righteousness leader of an international company. He says by means of sticking to his principles, he has scored probity greatest achievements.