Huawei says could still spin off devices unit

BARCELONA, SPAIN: China's Huawei Technologies could again try to spin off its fast-growing terminals unit, which makes phones and data cards, after its previous attempt failed in 2008, Ping Guo, the chairman of the unit, told Reuters.

He said the unit -- which not only makes phones but is also the world's largest maker of USB data cards or dongles -- is aiming for 2010 revenue of $6 billion, up 20 percent from a year ago.

In 2008 the firm planned to sell a stake in the unit to a strategic partner, spinning it off and then listing it, but stopped the plan due to the financial crisis, he said.

"We temporarily dropped it. We do not exclude a similar plan in the future," Guo Ping said in the interview on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona.

When asked whether the firm has started preparations for the spinoff again, he declined to comment.

He said the unit sold 30 million phones -- more than Apple -- and 35 million dongles last year, but declined to unveil 2010 sales targets.

(Reporting by Tarmo Virki; Editing by Greg Mahlich)