HUAWEI Q1 REVENUE HITS 179.7B YUAN
China tech giant says it shipped 59m smartphones in the 3-month period
HUAWEI Technologies Co Ltd said yesterday its first-quarter revenue jumped 39 per cent to 179.7 billion yuan (RM110.8 billion), in the Chinese technology firm’s first-ever quarterly results.
The Shenzhen-based firm, the world’s biggest telecoms equipment maker, also said its net profit margin was around eight per cent for the quarter, which it
added was slightly higher than the same period last year. It did not disclose its actual net profit.
The limited results announcement comes at a time when Washington has intensified a campaign against unlisted Huawei, alleging its equipment could be used for espionage and urging United States allies to ban it from building next-generation 5G mobile networks.
Huawei has repeatedly denied the allegations and launched an unprecedented media blitz by opening up its campus to journalists and making its typically low-key founder, Ren Zhengfei, available for media interviews.
The Chinese firm, which is also the world’s No. 3 smartphone maker, said last week the number of contracts it had won to provide 5G telecoms gear increased further despite the US campaign.
By the end of last month, Huawei said it had signed 40 commercial 5G contracts with carriers, shipped more than 70,000 5G base stations to markets around the world and expects to have shipped 100,000 by next month.
Huawei’s network business saw its first drop in revenue in two years last year. But Ren said in an interview with CNBC earlier this month network equipment sales rose 15 per cent while sales of the consumer business increased by more than 70 per cent in the first quarter.
Guo Ping, rotating chairman of the company, has said he expects all three business groups — consumer, carrier and enterprise — to post double-digit growth this year.
Huawei also said yesterday it had shipped 59 million smartphones in the first quarter. It did not disclose year-ago comparable figures, but according to market research firm Strategy Analytics, Huawei shipped 39.3 million smartphones in the first quarter of last year.