Huawei H1 revenue up 40%, sees momentum
Huawei Technologies Co, China’s top multinational company, on Monday reported first- half sales revenue of 245.5 billion yuan ($ 36.8 billion), an increase of 40 percent year- on- year.
The company said it is confident about maintaining growth momentum and a healthy balance sheet, according to a statement on its website.
Huawei, one of the world’s largest telecoms equipment makers, said its first- half operating margin narrowed to 12 percent from 18 percent in the first half of 2015. The company didn’t disclose profit information. “We are confident that Huawei will maintain its current momentum and round out the full year in a positive financial position backed by sound ongoing operations,” Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou said in the statement.
The Shenzhen- based private company said it achieved steady growth across all three of its business groups – telecoms, consumer devices and enterprise business – due to a well- balanced global presence.
Earlier this year, Huawei announced a revenue target of $ 75 billion for 2016, according to Reuters.
Huawei posted a 30 percent rise in revenue in the first half of 2015.
Fu Liang, a Beijing- based independent telecom analyst, told the Global Times Monday the consumer devices segment has been a powerful engine for Huawei in terms of generating revenues and profit, while it has also crimped the company’s profit margin.
“Smartphone makers globally, with the exception of Apple Inc with its complete ecosystem, don’t enjoy a high profit margin,” Fu said.
In 2015, Huawei’s consumer segment booked sales revenue equivalent to more than $ 20 billion, up about 70 percent from 2014, according to a company statement in January.
The company became the first smartphone maker in China to ship 100 million units in a single year by rolling out 108 million units in 2015 or 3 units per second, up 44 percent year- on- year.
According to media reports, the company’s 2015 sales revenue more than doubled the combined 2014 figures of the three IT giants of China: Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings and Baidu Inc.
“Huawei, as well as other telecom companies, is searching for ways to transform itself. Expansion into other areas such as devices on the consumer end has been a trend but it is too soon to tell what Huawei will transform itself into,” Fu noted.
Huawei continues to invest heavily in research and development. After the Brexit referendum, the company confirmed to the UK government that its planned 1.3 billion pound ($ 1.73 billion) investment in the UK would go ahead as planned, in an effort to continue relationships with world- class data scientists from the country’s universities.
Huawei is vying with Ericsson for the top spot in the global market for telecoms equipment.