Huawei Expands into Healthcare: Adds Medical Device Sales, Doubles Down on 5G, and Targets Hospitals

According to Qichacha data from March 25, Huawei Device Co., Ltd. has updated its business scope to include the sale of medical devices (Class II medical devices), drawing widespread attention from the industry. This is not Huawei’s first foray into the healthcare sector; the company has previously made attempts in areas such as digital hospitals and telemedicine.

It is well known that numerous IT giants are active in the medical device sector, with companies such as Apple and Google’s Verily having products that have received FDA medical device clearance.

In response, Huawei also addressed the change in its business scope: “Huawei is only involved in smart wearable devices that connect with medical equipment; on this basis, we may provide healthcare assistance solutions together with partners in the future. Huawei will not engage in the production of pure medical devices.”

Previously, Huawei’s HUAWEI WATCH GT featured its self-developed TruSeen 3.0 heart rate monitoring system. Huawei Terminal’s recent change in business scope strongly suggests that ECG monitoring functionality will be introduced on Huawei wearable devices. By adding a medical-grade feature to its wearables, Huawei is following the industry trend. Taking heart rate monitoring as an example,ECG products that have obtained Class II medical device registration certificates include Huami’s AMAZFIT, part of Xiaomi’s ecosystem, and Apple’s iWatch Series 4.

Huawei’s response has dispelled external speculation that the company was overly hyping its involvement in medical devices. By indicating that it may provide health and medical assistance solutions in the future, Huawei has signaled that it appears to have limited ambitions in the healthcare sector.

An analysis of Huawei’s strategic layout in health-focused wearable devices reveals extensive collaborations in the sports and health sector. Huawei has not only achieved the fastest growth rate in smart wearable shipments in China, but also established various health laboratories and five global research centers.

He Gang, President of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group (CBG) Mobile Product Line, once stated, “In the entire sports and health sector, we have invested over a thousand personnel in related work.” Sports and health constitute a key component of Huawei CBG’s IoT strategy, which encompasses smart home, connected vehicles, and office scenarios.

When Huawei launched its TruSeen heart rate monitoring algorithm, it also compared the performance with Apple Watch Series 3. However, Apple Watch Series 4 now features FDA-cleared heart rate monitoring capabilities. Huawei cannot afford to remain idle in response.

“He Gang, President of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group Mobile Phone Product Line, once stated, ‘By the end of this year, we will definitely present a highly prominent and noteworthy performance report.’”

This statement holds true. According to IDC’s report released on March 4, the top three players in the wearable device market share for Q4 2018 were Apple, Xiaomi, and Huawei. Apple ranked first in sales volume; however, Huawei’s year-on-year growth rate reached 248.5%, far exceeding Xiaomi’s 43.3% and Apple’s 21.5%.

Nevertheless, Apple’s wearable device shipments remain in first place. According to IDC’s analysis, the Apple Watch Series 4 features an ECG monitoring function with FDA clearance, which has driven a certain increase in sales, although it has not yet obtained CFDA certification. Huami, a brand within Xiaomi’s ecosystem, has also launched Amazfit devices featuring CFDA-certified ECG monitoring capabilities, targeting mid-range users.

On March 28, the update for Apple Watch Series 4 indicated that the “ECG” app and irregular rhythm notifications are available in Hong Kong, China, and parts of Europe. The next step is likely to be a rollout in mainland China.

According to IDC forecasts, global sales of wearable devices are projected to reach 279 million units in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.9%.

“The two main drivers of the wearable device market are healthcare and enterprise applications,” said Ramon Llamas, Research Director for IDC’s Wearables team.

Huawei is doubling down on the wearables sector, and future certifications will help maintain its competitiveness in the mid-to-high-end market.

For wearable devices to achieve true all-scenario application and connect across various use cases, data accuracy is essential to enable integration with hospitals and provide users with health management recommendations.

Apple’s strategy also involves continuous advancement toward medical-grade capabilities. Not long ago, Apple and Stanford University released the results of their collaborative heart study, which enrolled more than 400,000 volunteers. The data indicated that while the atrial fibrillation monitoring feature of wearable devices is not entirely accurate, it remains sufficiently useful.

In a study released by Apple, 0.5% of more than 400,000 volunteers received atrial fibrillation alerts; however, physician confirmation verified that 85% of these were true atrial fibrillation episodes. Only 57% of the volunteers sought medical attention after receiving the alerts.

In addition to its wearable devices positioned on the consumer end, Huawei has made numerous forays into the healthcare sector. The first remote 5G animal surgery and human surgery were conducted through collaborations between Huawei and China Unicom, and Huawei and China Mobile, respectively. Huawei has established a strategic presence across the three key stakeholders in healthcare: consumers, hospitals, and medical enterprises.

On the consumer side, the Huawei HUAWEI WATCH GT features Huawei’s self-developed TruSeen 3.0 heart rate monitoring system, enabling health management through wearable devices.

At launch, Huawei collaborated with multiple Grade 3A hospitals, including the Chinese PLA General Hospital (301 Hospital), to develop specialized algorithms for arrhythmia detection, paving a new path for large-scale population screening and management of arrhythmia risks to reduce the incidence of adverse events such as stroke.

Huawei has also jointly launched a heart health research project with the 301 Hospital. As part of this initiative, Huawei has established a closed-loop service system to provide medical consultation recommendations.

The Heart Health Study has been rapidly integrated with the MAFA Atrial Fibrillation Management Platform of the 301 Hospital. When a high risk of suspected arrhythmia is detected, the app automatically issues a risk alert, allowing users to schedule consultations with physicians on the MAFA platform via the “Book Appointment” feature. Currently, MAFA supports medical consultation and patient management services at more than 60 Grade IIIA hospitals across China, providing users with one-stop services for arrhythmia care.

On the hospital side, Huawei primarily supports hospitals in digital transformation and telemedicine.

In terms of informatization development, Huawei has served a large number of Grade A tertiary hospitals.

Jointly built a big data integration and application platform with West China Hospital, and collaborated with the client to plan and design the top-level digital hospital architecture and its implementation for the new campus of West China Second University Hospital; partnered with Beijing Tongren Hospital to establish an efficient and secure security assurance system; ensured the stable and reliable operation of business systems at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, and Jiangsu Province People’s Hospital through advanced active-active solutions; and helped the Chinese PLA General Hospital and Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital build highly integrated and easily maintainable data centers using micro-module solutions.

On the B2B front, Huawei Cloud serves enterprises. Huawei Cloud aims to build a leading wireless healthcare technology platform and help customers construct a complete wireless healthcare ecosystem.

Currently, Huawei Cloud’s solutions include biopharmaceutical solutions, chronic disease care and management solutions, medical imaging diagnosis solutions, medical imaging archiving solutions, and gene sequencing.

Analysis reveals that wearable devices are not Huawei’s deepest area of penetration in the healthcare sector; instead, Huawei is currently focusing its efforts on cloud computing within the medical field.

Huawei’s Rotating CEO Guo Ping once stated, “In the end, there will be five major cloud platforms remaining in the world, and Huawei Cloud will be one of them.” Currently, in the cloud computing landscape, Amazon’s AWS is far ahead, followed by Microsoft, Alibaba Cloud, IBM, Google, and others.

All five of the existing players have also launched businesses in medical cloud computing, with Huawei Cloud currently not holding the highest market share.

However, Gartner has pointed out in its reports that the gap between the top vendors and the second-tier vendors in China’s cloud computing sector is not insurmountable, with the final rankings to be determined by 2020. By the end of 2020, the top five cloud service providers in China will all be domestic companies.

The healthcare cloud computing market is projected to reach $25.7 billion by 2024, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.4% during the forecast period from 2017 to 2024.

Huawei Cloud’s specific R&D achievements in the healthcare sector include AI-powered products such as the DLI gene sequencing solution and the cloud-based AI analysis solution for cervical cancer pathology slides. Nevertheless, Huawei’s core focus remains on building a comprehensive, all-scenario cloud platform. To this end, Huawei has established a National Health Platform on the cloud, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that everyone has easy access to affordable and reliable medical care.

Since its launch in July 2017, Huawei Cloud has offered five major product solutions: medical imaging diagnosis, biopharmaceuticals, chronic disease care, and telemedicine.

Based on existing Huawei Cloud case studies, Huawei Cloud has partnered with MGI Tech to leverage cloud computing for the rapid transmission of massive datasets, as well as the expansion and sharing of computational capabilities. Currently, half of the data in MGI Tech’s gene bank is hosted and processed on the cloud.

In terms of imaging, on March 21, Huawei and Yitu Healthcare jointly launched the Intelligent Medical Cloud. Across the entire AI healthcare sector, this launch marks the first time an AI healthcare company has deeply integrated multiple discrete disease-specific applications to form patient-centered, scenario-based solutions. It also represents the first deployment of AI on the cloud, signaling that AI-powered healthcare solutions have officially entered the cloud era.

In this regard, Huawei’s advantages lie in its robust data processing capabilities and full-stack technical expertise. Huawei aims to establish a global presence with an all-scenario cloud platform and a leading wireless healthcare technology platform, while helping customers build a comprehensive wireless healthcare ecosystem.

All cloud service providers claim to be building “infrastructure,” and Huawei is no exception.

In the cloud services sector, beyond technological prowess, localized experience is also a critical component of core competitiveness.

Currently, under China’s Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries, value-added telecommunications services (including data centers) are classified as restricted, with foreign ownership capped at no more than 50%. As a result, foreign enterprises remain prohibited from directly investing in China’s IDC industry. Most major foreign data center and cloud service providers have adopted the “Chinese partner holds the license, foreign partner provides technology” model, such as Microsoft with 21Vianet, Amazon with Sinnet, and Apple with Guizhou-Cloud Big Data.

In this regard, Huawei has no foreign investment background, giving it a certain advantage in winning over domestic customers.

Zhang Shaowei, Director of Healthcare at Huawei Cloud, once stated, “Huawei Cloud focuses on the essentials and aims for long-term success, providing stable, reliable, secure, trustworthy, and sustainably evolving cloud services to meet rapidly changing customer needs.”

Most IT companies entering the healthcare sector are embracing it rather than disrupting it. However, Huawei possesses the technology to disrupt healthcare: 5G. The promotion and widespread deployment of 5G technology will bring about significant changes to existing medical devices and hospitals.

In terms of medical devices, the enhanced mobile broadband, ultra-reliable low-latency connectivity, and massive Internet of Things (IoT) enabled by 5G technology will accelerate the trends toward miniaturization and intelligence in medical equipment, as exemplified by existing remote ultrasound systems and vehicle-mounted CT scanners.

Data connectivity and data mining behind products will also become more comprehensive and in-depth. 5G can better support continuous monitoring and sensory processing devices, and its high-capacity feature enables medical IoT devices to continuously collect real-time patient data.

With the further development of smart devices, more health data will be recorded and monitored. More importantly, they will provide a more comprehensive and continuous record and analysis of our health status, and recommend suitable treatment plans.

Under this scenario, Huawei’s previous wearable devices and cloud computing services could also drive the ecosystem. However, Huawei adheres to its own principle of not monetizing data.

On the healthcare provider side, information can be flexibly exchanged among physicians, patients, and various hospital departments, thereby enabling rational allocation of medical resources. 5G technology can also facilitate telemedicine, alleviating the uneven distribution of medical resources and addressing challenges associated with cross-regional healthcare access.

In the construction case of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, the head of Huawei Wireless XLabs stated that Huawei has a long-standing partnership with carriers, providing them with 5G solutions while jointly promoting the development and implementation of the industrial ecosystem.

According to VCBeat, Huawei’s Wireless Application Scenario Lab (Xlabs) has established multiple Special Interest Groups (SIGs) in its exploration of the future. These SIGs encompass more than 280 partners across the industry chain, including telecom operators, hospitals, and medical device manufacturers, and have given rise to over 40 collaborative research projects.

In the field of wireless healthcare connectivity, we have established extensive and in-depth collaborations with renowned hospitals both domestically and internationally, leading medical device manufacturers, innovative medical terminal companies, and healthcare IT vendors.

Interestingly, Mindray was often referred to as the “Huawei” of the medical device industry in the past, whereas Huawei itself has now been building high barriers and accumulating substantial resources within the healthcare sector.

From the current results, Huawei lags behind its peers in the consumer sector; it is catching up vigorously in the medical cloud space and will ramp up efforts significantly over the next two years; while 5G represents the area of greatest transformation, poised to introduce numerous new application scenarios and products.