Chinese telecommunication giant and tech manufacturer Huawei is actively studying the market in Macao for opportunities in the construction and building management sectors, seeing the territory as a testing ground before trying its new product line overseas.
The vice president of the company’s Smart Home product line, Oliver Wu, told Macao magazine yesterday that Huawei’s latest technologies could be applied in “not only homes and hotels, but also construction, buildings, offices, government departments, schools, hospitals and others” in Macao.
Wu spoke on the sidelines of a tour of the Huawei Smart Home Ark Lab in Shenzhen for a Macao media delegation.
“Right now, we are actually considering the Macao market and we are still learning the market,” he added.
As an example, he said Huawei’s smart hotel room technology could help “save power anytime” hotel guests leave their rooms by switching off lights and air conditioners.
Though better known for its telecom products, Huawei began venturing into construction and building management technology about seven years ago and officially launched the product line around three years ago with an ambitious goal.
“Apple changed phones into smart and Tesla changed cars into smart. We want to be known as the one making construction and buildings smart,” Wu said.
However, he admitted that the company was still in the learning stage and focusing for now on the domestic hotel market, where more than 50 percent of newly built hotels are already using smart room technology.
[See more: An Advanced materials lab in Dongguan seeks research students from Macao]
“We need to create a local standard,” before venturing into Special Administrative Regions like Macao and Hong Kong, “then we go overseas,” Wu said.
Meanwhile, the Macao media delegation also visited Ubtech Robotics in Shenzhen, where they were greeted by a panda robot named “Youyou”.
Ubtech Robotics is one of the world’s five leading humanoid robot manufacturers. The company also provides AI education to schools in more than 30 countries – over 3,000 across mainland China alone.
“We need the next generation to understand how AI is changing the world, so it is important to engage them in advanced technology study and learning,” Ubtech Robotics chief brand officer Michael Tam said.
He added that the company was currently “contacting and negotiating” with Macao’s education authorities about supplying learning materials, robots and teacher training to local schools. Ubtech was also in discussions with the Macao Science Center, which has a robotic gallery, he added.
Tam said that robots have applications in Macao’s tourism industry and said Ubtech hoped to introduce “different robots that could maybe inspire the service industry, inspire the international tourists and raise the service level.”
The Macao media delegation consisted of Portuguese and English-language journalists, who made a four-day visit to four Greater Bay Area cities. The tour was organised by the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Macao SAR.
– With reporting by Gilbert Humphrey/Shenzhen
