Beijing (AFP) – Chinese smartphone maker giant Huawei said Monday that profits fell 28 percent last year as it faced international economic uncertainty and weak consumption at home. The Shenzhen-based company has been at the centre of an intense standoff between China and the United States after Washington warned its equipment could be used for espionage by the Chinese government, an allegation Huawei denies. Sanctions since 2019 have cut the firm’s access to US-made components and technologies, forcing it to diversify its growth strategy.
The company announced Monday that it made a net profit of 62.6 billion yuan ($8.6 billion) last year, down from 87 billion yuan in 2023. In a statement, a Huawei spokesperson said profits slipped last year because it “continued to increase…future-oriented investment and there were no gains from the sale of businesses.” Revenue rose 22 percent on-year — marking a third successive increase after a sharp drop in 2021 during the pandemic. Its 862.1 billion yuan in revenue was the highest since the figure surpassed 890 billion yuan in 2020. Most of that came from its ICT infrastructure business and consumer products, followed by cloud computing.
The results were “in line with forecast”, the company’s rotating chairwoman Sabrina Meng said in a statement. Employees “banded together to tackle a wide range of external challenges”, Meng said, adding that the company was “firmly committed to its quality goals and will keep honing quality as a competitive edge.” US sanctions have since 2019 cut Huawei off from global supply chains for technology and US-made components, a move that initially hammered its production of smartphones.
Last year, the company unveiled its first smartphone equipped with a fully homegrown operating system, a test of its ability to challenge the dominance of Western juggernauts. It also released the world’s first triple-folding phone, launched hours after its US rival Apple lifted the curtain on its newest iPhone. Apple remains popular among Chinese consumers but has ceded ground to domestic players such as Huawei in recent years.
Huawei remains one of the world’s leading equipment manufacturers for 5G, the fifth generation of mobile internet, and has been involved in infrastructure projects in numerous countries. The United States has sought to convince its allies to ban Huawei from their 5G networks, arguing that Beijing could use the group’s products to monitor communications and data traffic.
The firm is also facing heightened scrutiny in Europe over a new cash-for-influence probe in the EU parliament. Offices were sealed and five people were charged this month over suspicions that members of parliament were bribed to sway sensitive EU policies in favour of the tech giant. Lawmakers are to confront the Huawei allegations at a debate Monday on “transparency and anticorruption policies in the EU”, which is expected to see calls for tougher action.
© 2024 AFP
