Smartphone Maker Huawei enters Hyperledger Project

Hyperledger Project, run by the Linux Foundation, keeps getting bigger and bigger friends. As a project determined to explore the possibilities of the blockchain technology that will be open source, it clearly provides an appealing opportunity.

Since it started working, several major companies and organizations have come forth to join it in the same venture. These include Intel, Airbus, and JP Morgan, but also many other smaller but equally important organizations.

But the latest entry is really a blockbuster and will provide the project with an important boost. Huawei, as a Chinese heavyweight in the domain of smartphone production, is a big brand name not only in the country but around the globe.

But, the news comes in a very delicate timeframe for the Chinese company. In fact, the boost it delivers to the blockchain initiative will be most likely felt not only by Hyperledger Project but also by Huawei itself.

Huawei and Hyperledger

Aside from the smartphone maker, the Linux Foundation also got nine new members, which raised the number of participants of the Hyperledger project to 95. Here, an interesting fact was observed – out of those nine new members, most were from out of the US, while four come from mainland China. But, none of them pack the same influence and relevance as Huawei.

Currently, it is the biggest consumer tech producer that came into the project’s fold, in spite of the fact that the event did not come with a large explanation from the company. In fact, Huawei’s VP of engineering only said that his company continually looks for ways to achieve a breakthrough in the technology they are using. Now, the company believes that the blockchain will lead the evolution that will aid their customers and also allow Huawei to cover their needs in the future.

The position of the company and their bland statement are completely expected for any emerging Chinese giant. This is especially true in the international media environment, where most Chinese companies, aware of the cultural gap, chose to provide very measured statements which are often completely devoid of any real information. But, there is no doubt that Huawei is stepping in a very impressive business circle.

Hyperledger as of Now

Since it began, the Hyperledger project managed to draw in a versatile group of companies. Currently, Huawei is in the company of National Stock Exchange of India, Sberbank, Nokia and Shenzhen Xinguodu Technology just to name a few of the most prominent international members apart from those which were already noted. As large firms enter the fold, the effect snowballs and others are more likely to follow.

Because of this, it would not be a huge surprise if the projects included ever bigger tech and FinTech brands in the next several quarters. Here, the basic psychological pressure is bound to create an effect of “jump in or miss out”. Placed under this type of self-induced state, a company will be more likely to enter the project because of fears it could miss out greatly on the blockchain rewards, which is also in many ways a grounded fear.

This means that only those tech companies that are currently evolving their own blockchain solutions will be forced to find partners that could help them get acquainted with the same tech. At the present moment, there is no basis for the belief that a late entry will come with any big downsides, mostly because no applicable solutions are being developed.

But, the more the company waits, the bigger the chance it will end up lagging behind those who will be right there when a direct application emerges. It appears that the Huawei managed decided to go for the middle ground in this dilemma and enter Hyperledger in what seems to be the golden zone.

Now, there is no doubt that Hyperledger is here to stay and is by no means a pilot project. On the other hand, Huawei entry is quite possibly its biggest contribution from a pure tech manufacturer. The same move is even more interesting when the competition is taken into consideration.

The Samsung Spot

In the past, some big tech companies, like Apple for example, took on the position that the Hyperledger is none of their interest. In Apple’s case, the same trend was seen with their App Store policies towards bitcoin apps on their market. Here, the company completely disregarded the fact that millions of people use BTC to bet online and do a range of other actions and unilaterally decided to pull these apps from the market. Their approach to Hyperledger and blockchain in general mirrors the same mentality: the company most likely sees the tech as something that could be an issue for their brand but does not comprehend any of its potential advantages.

But, other companies that are a lot more relevant to Huawei’s ecosystem have in the past declared openly their interest in Hyperledger. One of these companies was Samsung but since these hints appeared in public, nothing happened between them and the Linux foundation.

This is important because, in theory, Huawei has what it takes to challenge Samsung on the global level. As of lately, with the Galaxy 7 problems, Samsung is really on their back foot when it comes to any plans for expansion. In fact, industry insiders believe that their position as the top dog of the Android-based mobile devices is under threat more than ever.

A New Challenger

The entry of Huawei into the Hyperledger could be perceived as one part of their multi-pronged expansion plan. In previous years the company presented itself as a reliable provider of low-to-mid range devices and they managed to get a foothold in the West, especially Europe.

As Samsung struggles with its weakened position and more importantly, an unclear internal direction when it comes to the tackling fallout management of their problems, a Chinese company could try to gradually muscle in on the same market. As hundreds of millions of people globally, ranging from retirees to eSports players, look for new medium-range devices, Huawei could present itself as a logical alternative to the current ruler of this domain.

Blockchain will most likely be of little help in the immediate future, but as a tech solution that their competitors will certainly not attain first, Huawei already has an edge in this domain. As they try to exploit it by pooling research potential in with other members of the Linux initiative, their efforts will undoubtedly reflect positively on the entire Hyperledger project.

Source: CoinDesk