5G alliance between US and Japan ‘ doomed to fail’

▶ ‘ Self- sufficiency’ needed for Chinese chipmakers

Chinese telecommunications equipment

40% makers, led by Huawei and ZTE, account for about 40 percent of the 5G stations worldwide.

141.9 billion yuan

The renewed alliance between the US and Japan to take on China in 5G is an “unrealistic illusion” that is doomed to fail, given Chinese companies’ wide- ranging presence in 5G infrastructure and its huge domestic application market, experts said on Sunday, noting that this reflects the pair’s struggle in the crowded industry.

US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Friday ( US time) renewed and escalated their moves against China’s 5G network development by showcasing their shared resolve to ensure the so- called “security and openness” of 5G wireless networks and concurring that it is important to rely on “trustworthy vendors.” Although they did not specifically mention China in their joint statement, the subtext was clearly to contain China’s development in 5G technologies.

Experts said that Japan’s hasty move to side with the US in containing China is just a showcase of its political stance, and the narrow cooperation is unlikely to yield material results for Japan’s 5G presence globally.

According to their joint statement posted on the White House website, the US and Japan have agreed to “advance secure and open 5G networks, including Open Radio Access Networks, by fostering innovation and by promoting trustworthy vendors and diverse markets.”

The two will jointly invest in research, development, testing, and deployment of secure networks and advanced ICT including 5G and nextgeneration mobile networks (“6G” or “Beyond 5G”), with the US having committed $ 2.5 billion to this effort, and Japan $ 2 billion.

“The US- Japan alliance in 5G cooperation and even 6G is wishful thinking from the perspective of research and development ( R& D) investment,” Xiang Ligang, director- general of the Beijing- based Information Consumption Alliance, told the Global Times on Sunday. The allies’ planned total investment of $ 4.5 billion is far less than Huawei’s annual R& D spending of over 100 billion yuan ($ 15.34 billion), he said.

Meanwhile, the US and Japan are disadvantaged in terms of technological accumulation and markets large enough for applications, Xiang said, noting that their undesirable performance in the 5G race may be a sign of their competitiveness in the 6G race.

Chinese telecommunications equipment makers, led by Huawei and ZTE, account for about 40 percent of the 5G stations worldwide, and Europe’s Ericsson and Nokia, as well as South Korea’s Samsung, also take significant shares. Meanwhile, the US and Japan have apparently fallen behind in the 5G global race, Nikkei reported.

In 2020, Huawei’s total R& D expenditure was 141.9 billion yuan ($ 21.76 billion), accounting for 15.9 percent of sales revenue.