Founder and president of Huawei Ren Zhengfei recently visited Huawei’s Research Institute in Japan where he touched upon the relationship with its rival Apple, Chinese media has reported.

Speaking of Apple, Ren said that Apple has opened up three eras: the first one was introducing the first PC, the second was Apple’s image processing technology, and the third one was its products iPhone and iPod Touch.

“Apple has changed the world, we really need to thank them for that,” he said noting that without the mobile internet economy, Huawei wouldn’t be where it is now. But now Apple’s decline is giving Chinese smartphone producers new opportunities.

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