Third time lucky? An exploration of Hutchison Whampoa's involvement in the mobile telecommunications industry

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper to analyse Hutchison Whampoa's involvement in the telecommunication industry.Design/methodology/approachA brief overview of Hutchison Whampoa is provided before a timeline of the company's involvement in the telecommunications industry is presented. This is followed by the recounting of the company's performance in three areas, namely geographical footprint, mobile subscribers and financial returns. After discussing these three areas, an assessment of the company's exposure to 3G markets is made.FindingsOne finding is that Hutchison Whampoa has actively engaged in the telecommunications industry through buying and selling businesses, often through complex organisational structures. A second finding is that the company has been very successful in the past at building and selling mobile operations, though it is unlikely to be as successful with its current series of 3G investments.Research limitations/implicationsSome of the data used in the paper are hard to establish with certainty.Practical implicationsThe ownership of service providers and the services available may change as Hutchison Whampoa manages its portfolio of telecommunication investments.Social implicationsAs a late entrant in many markets, Hutchison Whampoa has aggressively sought to capture market share, resulting in new services and lower prices. Whether this will continue in the future is uncertain.Originality/valueThere are no other case studies of Hutchison Whampoa's involvement in the telecommunications industry in the public domain.