Yu Chengdong talks about the Ascend Mate7 smartphone during a product launch in Shanghai, Sept. 12. (File photo/CFP)
Richard Yu, head of Huawei's consumer business group, has built a successful handset business for the Chinese telecommunications company, which has risen to a position in just four years to challenge the dominance of Apple and Samsung. The Chinese-language Global Entrepreneur magazine has published a profile of a figure some in the company describe as "crazy."
Yu took over the post in 2011 and soon drew controversy for some of the changes he ushered in, including a decision to reduce reliance on customized handsets for telecom operators, the magazine said.
The number of Huawei's customized handset customers in Europe plummeted from a peak of 15 to just one in 2012, and this raised concerns within the company with rumors that Yu was set to be fired surfacing every six months.
This year, Huawei clinched the global No. 3 spot for smartphone shipments during the second quarter, according to market researcher IDC, while GFK data showed that the Chinese company controls a larger smartphone share than Samsung in South Africa, Myanmar, Venezuela and Columbia.
During the past year, Yu's unit posted revenue of over US$9 billion, 18% year-on-year growth, and exceeded its profit target.
Meanwhile, Yu continues to announce drastic plans including cutting 80% of Huawei's product lines, pushing the ratio of sales through retailers and e-commerce sites to 80% and reducing sales through telecom operators to 20%, the report said.
The first major success of Huawei's smartphone business under Yu came with its P6 model, which sold nearly 3 million in China and over 1 million overseas in 2013, the magazine noted.
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