Huawei to build $800m plant in Brazil

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd will invest $800 million to build a factory in Brazil, the world’s fourth-largest smartphone market, by 2022 as part of broader efforts to beef up its presence in foreign markets to offset the fallout of global economic uncertainty.

The factory will be located in the southeastern state of Sao Paulo, its Governor Joao Doria said on a trip to Shanghai, where he met with Huawei executives.

Doria noted that Huawei is ramping up efforts to build the plant as Brazil is expected to hold its 5G spectrum auction next March. Industry insiders predicted the auction would be the largest in the world so far.

The Chinese tech giant disclosed in a statement the possibility of producing smartphones at the new plant. “Depending on the performance of the smartphone operation in the local market, Huawei will consider building a plant in Sao Paulo in the near future,” it said.