Information and communications technology (ICT) applications provider Huawei is planning to invest $90m over a five-year period to establish a research and development (R&D) centre in Helsinki, Finland.
The investment will double the company’s research operations in Europe as well as help the company take a share in the smartphone market in Nokia’s own backyard.
Initially the company will focus on software development for smartphones, tablets and rich-media devices, optimising the user experience of existing operating systems such as Android and Windows Phone 8.
The new Finnish R&D centre will drive Huawei’s research and development of new technologies for mobile devices.
Joining an already established modem and technology design centre in Sweden and a user interface research centre in the UK, the new R&D centre in Helsinki will serve as one of Huawei’s core centres for device R&D.
Huawei Central, Eastern and Nordic Europe vice-president Kenneth Fredriksen said: "The open and innovative environment in Finland is an ideal place for Huawei to strengthen our global R&D capabilities for devices, creating opportunities for both Huawei and the Finnish telecommunications industry."
The company currently employs 7,000 people across Europe and in September this year it had announced a plan to invest $2bn in R&D, local procurement and centre of excellence in the UK.
