Ren Zhengfei, CEO of Huawei. (www.guardian.co.uk)
Reuters reports an internal letter to employees from Ren, confirmed by two company sources, announced an outsider would be needed to succeed him.
“Huawei's successor should not only have vision, character and ambition, like what we've said before, but also a good global perspective and the acumen to drive the business,” Ren wrote.
“My family members do not possess these qualities. Thus, we will never be in the running of the successor race.”
Former military officer Ren founded Huawei in 1987 and has since seen the firm rise to second behind Ericsson in telecom equipment sales and become the fifth largest smartphone maker in the world.
Huawei currently has a rotating CEO system in preparation for the post-Ren era, with three top executives, all unrelated to the founder, currently occupying the post for six months at a time.
Ren also said Huawei would not be listed in the next five to ten years.
"We have not studied the issue of an IPO because we feel that listing is not conducive for our development," he said.
