Huawei denies interest in Alca-Lu alliance

Once again, rumors bubbled up that Huawei would be forging a relationship with rival vendor Alcatel-Lucent. And once again, Huawei quelled the furor.

For the second time in about two weeks, Huawei shot down speculation that it would be getting closer to Alcatel-Lucent. This time, the hubbub came after a report in the French magazine Challenges said that the two companies had ruled out a merger, but had begun talks about a possible alliance in which they would make several products together. The report did not cite any sources.

"The reports are inaccurate," Huawei spokesman Ross Gan told Reuters. "Huawei is not in discussions with Alcatel-Lucent." However, Gan told Dow Jones Newswires that Huawei remains open to possible cooperation opportunities, but declined to elaborate. An Alcatel-Lucent spokeswoman told FierceWireless the company does not comment on rumors.

Late last month, after market speculation reached a high pitch, Huawei said it had no interest in taking a stake in Alcatel-Lucent.

Both Alcatel-Lucent and rival Nokia Siemens Networks face increasingly intense market pressure from Huawei and fellow Chinese vendor ZTE, which have both nearly doubled their market share during the past year, according to Dell'Oro.

For more:
- see this Reuters article [1]
- see this Dow Jones Newswires article [2] (sub. req.)

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Should Alca-Lu and NSN merge? [6]