back to article Shocking revelations from Huawei-commissioned report: Huawei is good for the UK's economy so don't ban them

Not a month seemingly goes by without the release of yet another "independent" report commissioned by hard pressed Huawei describing the business's importance to the UK economy. The latest, penned by think tank Oxford Economics, claims Huawei contributed £3.3bn to UK GPD during 2019, both directly and indirectly, and supports …

  1. DavCrav

    "This is in addition to £1.1bn in tax receipts."

    This is nothing but a tissue of lies. If Huawei is counting the spending of its employees in coffee shops as its contribution, it cannot count its direct contribution, as that is spending by other people's employees on mobile phones. Also, Huawei shouldn't be claiming tax paid by its employees as its own. Its employees pay that. The only figure is the £100m-odd one.

    If this sort of lying is allowed to stand, then each company and person put together would 'contribute' around £10 for every real £1 in actual, genuine tax receipts.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      In a previous company I worked for, Huawei were a competitor. They would usually win, particularly in the public sector, because they would drop the price to a point where nobody else could match them. There was no chance in hell they were actually making any money.

      Of course, they aren't the first to use the loss-leader tactic and if the accusations are true, getting their kit into our public institutions is probably worth spending money on. As for their contribution, yes their UK-based employees will be paying tax, but they would if they worked for someone else. From what I could tell, much of the sales process was performed from afar. But of course, that's also true for most IT vendors, as few of them are actually based in the UK.

      1. Aitor 1

        Loss leaders

        Yes, they do that, it is even in their training manuals!

        But they also produce kit fir cheaper than most western companies.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Loss-leaders

        Some of the small-bookshop owners who were driven out of business by the rise of Amazon (back when they mainly sold books) would like to talk to you about loss-leaders. I imagine some of the cab firms that Uber drove out would too.

        Of course big American firms with Wall St. backing who lose billions as loss-leaders are simply taking advantage of capitalism and the free market. Whereas Huawei are nasty evil communists who are taking our jobs, and reducing the government's tax take. Clearly they must be banned at once.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Hummm... I wonder where they got the idea from:

      https://www.vodafone.com/our-purpose/reporting-centre/tax-and-our-contribution-to-economics

      1. DavCrav

        "Hummm... I wonder where they got the idea from:"

        More than one company lies in press releases. Full story at 11.

  2. alain williams Silver badge

    Quote: Mandy Rice-Davies

    She says it best "Well they would say that, wouldn’t they?"

    OK: it is a slight misquote, but still

  3. six_tymes

    back door engineers rejoice.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      It's that from Roger's Profanisaurus?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Someone here seems to get real excited by the backdoor...

  4. macjules

    Self-generating reports - what a great idea!

    IBM: A report just out says that IBM is the world's greatest company to work at. Staff questioned were happy that there is never any chance of being made redundant.

    Capita: A new report says that Capita is financially more solvent than Apple and goes on to state how marvellous Capita's applications are.

    Tesla: All Tesla's cars are perfectly safe. A report absolves the board of Tesla from any responsibility for use of NAND chips.

    1. Version 1.0 Silver badge

      Re: Self-generating reports - what a great idea!

      And Huawei disposable phones are very profitable - they are virtually irreparable so very profitable.

  5. TimMaher Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    The politics of commerce.

    Hopefully, China’s treatment of Hong Kong will also have played a role in this.

    Huawei need to be hurt because of who they are, where they are and who they are in bed with.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The politics of commerce.

      *Everyone* is in bed with China.

    2. veti Silver badge

      Re: The politics of commerce.

      If I believed it hard anything to do with that, I'd be happier about the boycott.

      But we all know, that is at best a retroactive justification. The real reason being Trump's tantrum, which Biden isn't going to reverse because there's no constituency for it in the US.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ban them anyway

    This report shows that the company is nothing more than a mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party and in addition uses the same lies and half-truths to enable them to stay in power.

    And that's apart from the millions of Chinese who have been killed or wronged by the criminal activities of the CCP.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Ban them anyway

      Don't disagree about the CCP, but why just Huawei? I assume it's not because they're the only company who bothered to invest in 5G after Microsoft killed Nokia?

      Let's face it, ZTE paid off Trump so now they're suddenly ok. Huawei didn't get the memo and missed the obvious solution of using Trump hotels for corporate travel.

    2. Mark Exclamation

      Re: Ban them anyway

      I agree. It's amazing the lengths Huawei are going to in order to try to remain the core supplier. They must be being pushed *really* hard by the CCP.

  7. Androgynous Cupboard Silver badge

    If they're appealing to economic sense, they're in the wrong country

    I cite as evidence British policy on Europe over the last four years.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Non-US option for Smartphone ecosystem

    The only good thing that came out of this Huawei nonsense is that there is now an entire smartphone ecosystem independent of Apple and Google.

    I expect to see more phones offering Huawei's US-free AppStore.

    1. DavCrav

      Re: Non-US option for Smartphone ecosystem

      "I expect to see more phones offering Huawei's US-free AppStore."

      I, to be honest, don't.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Non-US option for Smartphone ecosystem

        I once had the bright idea to publish my apps on Huawei's AppGallery. But after seeing the hoops you had to jump through (like sending a scan of your passport) I thanked for the opportunity.

        There's simply no way I'm going to send my personal information to China.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Non-US option for Smartphone ecosystem

          "There's simply no way I'm going to send my personal information to China"

          That gave me a good Friday afternoon laugh, thanks :-)

          I'm just so glad our personal data is safe in UK/US hands... we all dodged a bullet there...

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