Huawei, a leading global ICT solutions provider, has announced the appointment of technology veteran Colin Giles as the executive vice president of Huawei’s emerging Consumer Business Group.

Giles will be in charge of global marketing, retail and open channel development.

Giles is a senior executive in the handset industry who has accumulated a unique blend of global perspective and expertise as well as deep experience in the Chinese market—Huawei’s home territory.

Most recently serving in various senior roles at Nokia, and with a proven expertise in handset brand marketing, Giles’ appointment will strengthen Huawei’s consumer business as the company gains momentum as a top five brand in the global smartphone market.

Richard Yu, chief executive officer, Huawei Consumer Business Group said: “Colin has achieved phenomenal success in his previous roles in the industry and has a wealth of experience in mobile brand marketing and device sales. We are thrilled to welcome him to our team.”

“I am delighted to join Huawei at such an exciting time in the development of Huawei’s consumer journey,” Giles said.

“Over the last couple of years, the company has already made big strides in the global marketplace with the introduction of flagship products that quickly became the talk of the town, like the world’s slimmest smartphone Ascend P6 launched just weeks ago.

“I look forward to working closely with everyone in the Consumer Business Group to continue to ‘Make it Possible’ for smartphone users worldwide.”

In the Middle East Huawei has also proven keen to invest in top talent, as noted earlier this year in the appointment of industry veteran Ashraf Fawakherji to the position of vice president of Huawei’s Consumer Business in the Middle East.

Over the past few years Huawei has achieved rapid growth in the global smartphone market as well as increased brand recognition. In 2012, Huawei’s Consumer Business Group recorded sales revenue of $7.5 billion, a year-on-year growth of 60 per cent, and shipped 127 million units of devices globally.

In the first quarter of 2013, Huawei ranked number four in global market share for smartphone shipments, according to research reports from Strategy Analytics and IDC.

In the first half of 2013, Huawei also launched a series of flagship smartphones including the Ascend Mate, the Ascend P6 and the Ascend P2. – TradeArabia News Service