Huawei To Open Up R&D Quarters In Finland

In a move to make itself even more dominant, and possibly to say "hi" to Nokia, Chinese handset manufacturer Huawei will be investing €70 million ($90 million) to open up a research and development center in Helsinki, Finland. The company says it will invest the money in the facility over the next five years, and plans to double its workforce in Europe over the next few years.

The new office will employ around 100 people who will be in charge of writing software for both Android and Windows Phone operating systems. While this may be the first office in Finland for Huawei, it's the company's 11th office in all of Europe. And while 100 people in this new office doesn't sound like much, it's possible that Huawei could expand to more employees in the next few years.

It certainly would make sense, since the company is planning to double its entire workforce within three to five years. Currently, Huawei employs 7,000 people in Europe, so in just a few years, we could see the company grow to over 14,000 in the region. Also, Huawei's new R&D center will be just minutes away from Nokia's headquarters in Espoo.

Huawei isn't stopping in Finland, though. Back in September, the company announced a $2 billion investment in the UK, and there's a possibility that the company will open up another R&D center in Spain. And while the close proximity to Nokia may just be a coincidence, it'll definitely be a slap in the face for the Finland-based company, who has been in somewhat of a downfall recently.