Pau Barrena | Bloomberg | Getty Images
An attendees uses A1 smartphone, manufactured by Gionee Communication Equipment Co. Ltd., on the opening day of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain, on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017.
So could the U.S. be next for China’s rising stars? Not just yet, they say. Analysts warned that many Chinese players could find themselves up against intellectual property challenges in the U.S. But it is not stopping Chinese firms expanding aggressively.
At the same time, the U.S. environment has become more volatile for Chinese firms with President Donald Trump continuing with anti-China rhetoric. During his campaign he threatened to impose high import tariffs on goods from the country. But Chinese companies are not worried.
“I don’t see that risk because I think the China-U.S. relationship is the most important relationship in the world, we need each other,” Yuanqing Yang, CEO of Lenovo, told CNBC in an interview last week.
For now though, the majority of Chinese firms are focusing on countries where they can win share without the chance of much trouble, but are not ruling out entrance to the U.S. or other western markets.
“I think the Gionee brand is not ready to enter in U.S. or Europe, but if we partner with local brands and offer products with them and work with them to understand this market, then we might be able to,” Gionee’s Lu said.
“For the developed markets, we have a plan to go step by step and not rush.”
