Huawei has officially opened its first dedicated Middle East Customer Service Center located in Dubai, UAE, further demonstrating its commitment to investment in the region. The flagship store, situated close to the city's financial center, adds to the company's ongoing expansion in the Middle East. The center will cater exclusively to customers using Huawei's flagship device series, providing on-ground services - including home delivery across the entire UAE - that were previously unmatched in the market. "Today we live in a dynamic era where technological progress is revolutionizing how we work, learn, entertain and live. People increasingly view connectivity less as a privilege and more as a necessity in their daily lives," said Jiao Jian, Middle East President of Huawei's Consumer Business Group. "In delivering the value of innovation - throughout rich product portfolio - to more people across the region, Huawei is committed to offering excellent after-sales support and a one-stop service center for all our customers' needs." The opening of the Customer Service Center comes on the back of an impressive year for Huawei, whose worldwide consumer sales increased by a staggering 69% during the first two quarters of 2015 to $9.09 billion - having closed at $12.2 billion for the whole of 2014. The Middle East has played a significant role in that expansion with Huawei's regional consumer business recording a 48% jump in revenue year-on-year during the first half of 2015. Total smartphone shipments in the Middle East and Africa are set to total 155 million units in 2015 after increasing 66% year-on-year during the first quarter, according to the latest figures from market intelligence firm IDC The company recently ranked Huawei as the number two smartphone brand in the Middle East and Africa region, weighing in with 8.9% market share - relative to shipments - in 2014. "Huawei's success in the Middle East and Africa region is no secret. One of the main reasons they have been able to do that, aside from offering good quality, innovative smartphones, has been due to their incredible focus on building brand image in the region," said Nabila Popal, research manager of IDC's infrastructure and systems division across the Middle East, Africa andTurkey. Huawei has already released several popular smart devices this year in the Middle East. Its impressive expansion has been made possible in part by its ever-expanding retail ecosystem which includes partnerships with retail leaders such as Axiom Telecom, SHAS in Saudi Arabia and ABT in Oman. "Aside from the marketing and consumer aspect, having incredible local and on-ground presence in each of their target markets has been a great driver behind Huawei's success," Popal added. The brand's global success has also been fueled by a bold research and development (R&D) agenda. Last year alone, Huawei invested approximately 14% of its $46.5 billion annual revenue back into R&D, being listed in Thomson Reuters "Top 100 Global Innovators" list for 2014. Today Huawei operates in over 170 countries with two thirds of its revenue coming from markets outside of China. — SG
