咫尺天涯

????2001年情人節（Valentine's Day）這天，華為公司首次進入美國市場。當時，由公司高級副總裁陳朝暉領隊，一小組公司員工來到了德克薩斯州的普萊諾市，成立了公司的第一個美國辦事處。陳朝暉回憶道：“當時，我的英語說得很差，也不會開車。我們當時要先找住的地方，大約有四五個人吧。根本沒有一點頭緒。了解當地市場和確定策略都非常困難。”

????大約三年之后，華為CEO任正非來到德克薩斯州，視察他的“先遣隊”。陳朝暉表示，當時華為還沒能與哪怕一家美國客戶簽訂合同，幾乎沒有人知道它的名字。（當時公司在美國的注冊名稱是“Futurewei”，這原本是為了簡單起見，但最后卻適得其反。）任正非給員工提出了幾點建議。陳朝暉稱：“他當時說：‘我們要像針一樣扎進來。把所有精力集中在一款產品和一個客戶身上，然后尋找突破，一點一點打開知名度。’”

????從那一年開始，華為便開始不斷向美國投入資源。目前，公司在普萊諾的辦公室也已經擴大到100，000平方英尺的大樓，成為公司在北美地區的總部。華為還在美國成立了12家分支機構和7個研發中心，包括在加利福尼亞州圣克拉拉市新近成立的研發中心，目前在美國的員工人數超過1，100人，其中75%是美國人（華為在美國的公司中，只有200名中國籍員工）。因此，要成為美國電信行業主要參與者，華為已經具備了良好的基礎。

????競爭對手極力將華為排擠在大額合約的競標之外的原因很現實：利潤。盡管美國運營商在電信設備上的開支約占全球開支的15%，但他們的利潤比卻為25%。這是因為，美國電信設備的毛利潤率為45%到50%。2004年底，華為進入歐洲市場之前，愛立信和阿爾卡特-朗訊的毛利潤率也能達到這個比例。但德國漢堡貝倫貝格銀行（Berenberg Bank）分析師的一份名為《中國式水刑》（Chinese Water Torture）的報告顯示，在華為進入歐洲市場并強力競標之后，他們的利潤率迅速下降到30%到35%。而新技術的推出則使它成為更加可怕的競爭對手，因為這項技術可以為消費者大幅降低成本。例如，華為推出的SingleRAN設備可以處理多種信號類型——2G、3G、WiMax、CDMA、GSM等，這一切僅僅需要一套設備，運營商不必針對不同信號建立單獨的網絡。

????據業內人士稱，去年秋天，當斯普林特公司為升級網絡進行招標時，華為公司開出的條件能讓運營商在運行的第一年就可在目前成本的基礎上節省8億美元。但在亞利桑那州共和黨人、參議院喬恩?科爾的帶領下，部分國會議員發起了一場“上書活動”，要求斯普林特公司拒絕華為的投標。而且，據報道時任美國商務部部長的駱家輝致電斯普林特公司CEO丹?漢斯，表達了自己對國家安全的“深切擔憂”。最終，價值50億美元的招標被愛立信、阿爾卡特-朗訊和三星公司（Samsung）瓜分。科爾和駱家輝均拒絕對此事發表評論。

????最終做出合同決定的是斯普林特公司負責網絡事務的高級副總裁鮑勃?阿茲，他甚至否認華為曾參與過競標。他說，進行網絡升級需要考慮多方面的成本和因素——包括像新技術的過渡——但商務部的警告并不包括在內。他堅決表示：“沒有人告訴我該怎么做。我們自己根據當時的商業環境進行決策，這是我們的底線。我們自己確定成本；我們自己確定利益。就是這么回事。”

????華為團隊倍受打擊——他們一直信心滿滿，認為他們可以說服斯普林特與他們簽署在美國的第一個一級合同。為了提高成算，華為甚至與一家名為Amerilink Telecom的公司建立了合作伙伴關系。該公司由美國參謀長聯席會議（Joint Chiefs of Staff）副主席、海軍上將比爾?歐文斯領導。他也曾在北電網絡公司擔任過CEO。歐文斯表示：“在我看來，美國拒絕（讓斯普林特同意華為獲得該業務）是一個嚴重的錯誤。華為向斯普林特、美國政府，向所有人都公開了公司的源代碼。如果是北電，我絕不會向任何人，尤其是美國政府公開源代碼。這件最終以這樣的結局收場絕對是大錯特錯。”

機會依然存在

????或許華為還沒有獲得美國大型運營商的信任，但在中等規模電信公司中，它的銷售勢頭卻異常迅猛——銷售的產品從核心基礎設施到消費設備。去年，華為在北美地區的收入達到7.65億美元，比前一年的總收入翻了一番還多。其中一個重要的客戶是Leap公司，該公司從高通公司（Qualcomm）分拆出來，目前是美國第七大無線運營商。2006年，Leap公司首次購買了華為的3G設備，2007年又購入了基站，2010年采購了調制解調器。目前，該公司在銷售華為出產的價格低廉的Ascend安卓系統智能手機。T-Mobile公司也在出售華為的Ascend手機。華為推出的名為IDEOS S7的7寸安卓系統平板電腦也開始在百思買集團（Best Buy）銷售。該款平板電腦售價不到300美元，頗受部分消費者的青睞，畢竟他們不想花昂貴的價錢購買一臺iPad。

????其中部分新業務的達成路徑為頗耐人尋味。比如，華為的另外一個大客戶是無線互聯網提供商科維公司（Clearwire），而頗具諷刺意味的是，斯普林特公司在科維公司擁有多數股權。此外，科維公司與斯普林特公司達成了合作協議，負責斯普林特公司的4G業務，而最終采用的設備又恰恰是由華為生產的。科維公開承認華為之前便是其WiMAX供應商，目前是其4G網絡供應商，除此之外，并未發表其他評論。

????華為的另外一個客戶是Level3通信公司，該公司負責美國200多個政府部門的安全信道通信，也是美國的國防承包商，推出了跨越美國和西歐的互聯網轉接網絡，該網絡被稱為互聯網的主干網絡。盡管Level3公司與華為均未透露有關交易的任何內容，但業內人士和分析師均確認，Level3采購了華為的設備。一位業內人士稱：“采購的產品是基站，核心交換設備——都是那種能讓人提心吊膽、夜不能寐的設備。”Level3回應稱，為客戶保密是公司的首要任務，但對于“網絡安全問題，公司沒有發表評論。”

????或許是由于網絡安全問題，因此華為公司的大部分客戶都對華為的事情諱莫如深。但有一家客戶卻非常樂意發表自己的意見，他便是東北無線網絡公司（Northeast Wireless Networks）的創始人兼CEO羅伯特?帕斯洛。該公司正在為緬因州和俄勒岡州等偏遠地區安裝設備，以提供更高效的蜂窩接入和無線寬帶。他說，華為的SingleRAN產品能夠處理斯普林特的CDMA和AT&T的GSM技術，以及加拿大的微波互聯接入技術。對于這一點，他給與了高度贊揚。帕斯洛曾在朗訊任職，他說：“這是最優秀的解決方案，也是我為什么對華為設備如此著迷的原因。單從技術來看，他們的確稱得上是目前行業中的真正領袖。”

????但在決定采購之前，根據所了解到的一些信息，他也對安全問題產生過擔憂。所以帕斯洛去了華盛頓，從1月到3月，有兩個半月時間，他每周去一次。他說：“我在華盛頓的國會山拜訪了許多參議院和國會議員，我還去了安全機構。我絕不能做出任何可能危害國家安全的決定。”但華盛頓之行聽到的說辭都無法使他相信華為的設備會帶來威脅。他說道：“我對議員和安全機構的走訪非常滿意，并根據走訪的結果做出了最終的決定。”

????對于華為來說，讓人們改變態度并非易事。但公司愿意繼續艱難前行，實現自己的長期目標。華為北美區總裁查爾斯?丁稱：“我們需要有足夠的耐心。”華為計劃進軍云計算和企業空間，并與甲骨文（Oracle）、亞美亞（Avaya）、惠普（Hewlett-Packard）、思科和亞馬遜（Amazon）等公司展開競爭。據華為預測，截至2020年其全球收入將增長三倍，達到1，000億美元——這是一個宏偉的目標。不過，如果華為無法贏得美國的頂級客戶，一切都是空談；如果華為能夠讓華盛頓的大多數人相信，它的目的非常單純，那它或許能夠如愿。

????（翻譯 劉進龍）

????Huawei has continued to pour resources into the U.S. in the years since. The Plano office is now a 100,000-square-foot building and is the North American headquarters. Huawei has set up 12 branch offices and seven R&D centers in the U.S., including a brand-new research center in Santa Clara, Calif., and now employs more than 1,100 people in the U.S., 75% of them Americans (some 200 Huawei employees in the U.S. have come from China). Huawei has the infrastructure to be a major telecom player in America.

????But competitors have a compelling reason to shut Huawei out of the bidding for big contracts: margins. While U.S. operators do an estimated 15% of the global spending on telecom equipment, they account for up to 25% of the profit. That's because gross margins for telecom equipment in the U.S. are 45% to 50%. Before Huawei entered Europe in late 2004, margins for Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent were that high too. But they fell to 30% to 35% immediately after Huawei arrived and began bidding aggressively, according to a report titled "Chinese Water Torture" by analysts at Berenberg Bank in Hamburg. The gearmaker's new technology makes it an even more formidable competitor because it can create significant cost savings for customers. Its SingleRAN equipment, for example, can handle multiple types of signals -- 2G, 3G, WiMax, CDMA, GSM -- on one box, freeing a carrier from building separate networks.

????Last fall when Sprint Nextel solicited bids for a network upgrade, Huawei offered a deal that would have saved the carrier at least $800 million from its existing costs in its first year of operation alone, according to several industry sources. But members of Congress, led by Sen. Jon Kyl, Republican from Arizona, launched a letter-writing campaign urging Sprint not to include Huawei. And Commerce Secretary Locke reportedly called CEO Dan Hesse to convey his "very deep concerns" about national security. The $5 billion prize was split among Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, and Samsung. Kyl and Locke declined to comment on the matter.

????Sprint's senior vice president of network, Bob Azzi, who made the contract decision, wouldn't acknowledge that Huawei had been a bidder. He says there are many costs to consider in an upgrade -- including transitioning to a new technology -- but that a warning from the Secretary of Commerce wasn't one of them. "I was not told what to do," he insists. "The bottom line is we made the choice in the business context we had. We decide on the costs; we decide on the benefits. Period."

????The Huawei team was crushed -- having been almost sure it was going to nail Sprint as its first Tier 1 contract in the U.S. ?To boost its chances, Huawei had formed a partnership with a company called Amerilink Telecom, headed by the former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Bill Owens, who also was once CEO of Nortel Networks. "In my view it was a serious mistake for America not to [have had Sprint award Huawei the business]," says Owens. "They're opening all their source code to Sprint, to the U.S. government, to everyone. At Nortel, I never would have opened the source code to anyone, especially not the U.S. government. This is so compellingly wrong in the way this has happened."

Not a total shutout

????It may not have broken through to big U.S. carriers yet, but Huawei has begun to pick up serious momentum selling to mid-tier telecoms -- from core infrastructure to consumer devices. Last year Huawei tallied $765 million in revenue in North America, more than double its total from the year before. One important customer is Leap (LEAP), a spinoff from Qualcomm (QCOM) whose Cricket is the seventh-largest U.S. wireless operator. Leap first purchased Huawei's 3G equipment in 2006, then base stations in 2007, and modems in 2010. Currently it sells Huawei's affordable Android-based smartphone, the Ascend. T-Mobile offers the Huawei Ascend as well. And Best Buy (BBY) sells a seven-inch Android-based tablet from Huawei called the IDEOS S7, which at under $300 is aimed at consumers who don't want to splurge for an iPad.

????Some of that new business has led down surprising paths. For instance, another large customer is Internet wireless provider Clearwire, which, ironically, is majority-owned by Sprint. And Clearwire has a partnership deal to carry Sprint's 4G traffic -- on Huawei's equipment, as it turns out. Clearwire declined to comment except to confirm that Huawei was previously its WiMAX supplier and is now a supplier for its 4G network.

????Then there's Level3 Communications (LVLT) -- which operates secure-channel communications for over 200 government agencies, is a U.S. defense contractor, and forms what is called the backbone of the Internet, an IP transit network across the U.S. and Western Europe. That Level3 has purchased Huawei equipment is confirmed by industry sources and analysts, even though neither company has ever announced any deals. "It's base stations, core switching equipment -- the kind of stuff that really ought to keep people up at night," one source says. Level3 responds that customer confidentiality is its highest priority, but that it does not "comment further on network security" issues.

????Perhaps because of the cybersecurity issue, most of Huawei's customers decline to be interviewed about the company. One customer happy to talk was Robert Parsloe, founder and CEO of the new Northeast Wireless Networks, which is installing equipment to provide better cellular access and wireless broadband in remote places like Maine and Oregon. He raves that Huawei's SingleRAN box can handle both Sprint's CDMA and AT&T's GSM technologies -- along with microwave Internet connections from Canada. "That's the winning solution out here, and why I got so hooked on the Huawei equipment," says Parsloe, an ex-Lucent employee. "They're really industry leaders by far on the technology side."

????Before he made the purchase, though, he worried about security concerns based on what he had read. So Parsloe went to Washington -- once a week for 2 1/2 months from January through March. "I had meetings in D.C., on the Hill with senators and congressmen, and I went to the security agencies," he says. "I was not about to make a decision that might impair our national security." But he heard nothing that convinced him that equipment from Huawei would constitute any kind of threat. "I walked away feeling very comfortable making the decision based on my meetings and the agencies I met," he says.

????Winning converts has not been easy for Huawei. But the company is willing to keep slogging away to reach its long-term goals. "We just have to be patient," says Charles Ding, head of Huawei North America. Huawei's plans call for moving into cloud computing and the enterprise space -- bringing it into competition with the likes of Oracle (ORCL), Avaya, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Cisco, and Amazon (AMZN). Worldwide, Huawei forecasts that its revenue will triple by 2020, to more than $100 billion -- an ambitious goal and one it's unlikely to reach unless it can land top-tier customers in America. But if Huawei can convince enough people in Washington that its intentions are pure, it just might succeed.