Brendan James: takeaways from the east, October 2019

When, in the course of certain technological events, the market takes a downturn, and when hopes of a quick rebound dissolve only for the malaise to become the status quo, the need to find a silver lining takes center stage. In discussing mobile phone shipments outright, there’s nothing more that can be said about the sad state of affairs that is plaguing our industry. Takeaways From The East is not one to tell you traders what you already know and feel, nor to beat the drums of gloom and doom! It’s time to look at interesting choices for opportunity that could point to new places to rake in serious revenue in the short term while we wait for the clouds to lift.

Our favorite manufacturers luckily have their hands in many pots, and those pots are scattered throughout the world. The former Soviet bloc is one such place. On one hand, the sun is shining one the wild and wonderful world of 5G, which we here at The Handelot Times have expanded upon in recent issues. On the other hand, the non-Russian lands of Central and Eastern Europe have become a battleground in mobile device sales as all the major players jockey for position. We’ll take a look at both sides of this very interesting coin in this edition of Takeaways From The East.

5G in russia

Whether concerning wireless devices or wireless services, Huawei is certainly making their hay in this part of the world; the Chinese giant has long ago telegraphed their involvement in the development and perpetuation of the new wireless standard. It’s paying dividends now: Chinese president Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin recently signed an agreement to establish the largest and most ambitious 5G pilot program in the city of Moscow using Huawei’s technology and the network of Russian provider MTS.

This is exciting news. But the future of Russian 5G is not exclusive to Huawei. “The Moscow Government has not signed any agreements with Huawei,” says Eduard Lysenko, minister of the government of Moscow speaking to Forbes Magazine. He adds that his cabinet has “signed agreements with telecom operators and poses no restrictions on these operators and allows them to enter into agreements with different equipment suppliers.” All of which means that there’s room for all manner of telecom companies to develop devices and hardware to bring a new technology to a vast company.