Huawei says profits more than doubled in 2023

Chinese tech giant Huawei said yesterday its profits more than doubled in 2023, as it ramps up efforts to bounce back in a year that saw the company apparently defy US sanctions with the release of a high-end smartphone.

The Shenzhen-based company has been at the centre of an intense standoff between China and the US − Washington has warned that 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.

Huawei said it generated a profit of 87 billion yuan ($12 billion) last year, more than double 2022’s 35.6 billion yuan but short of its record 113.7 billion yuan profit in 2021.

Revenues also surged by 9.6 per cent to 704.2 billion yuan. “We’ve been through a lot over the past few years,” Rotating chairperson Ken Hu said yesterday.

“But through one challenge after another, we’ve managed to grow.”

Highlighting Huawei’s efforts to diversify as it finds itself cut off by Western sanctions, the firm said revenues from its smart car business had more than doubled, bringing in 4.7 billion last year.

More than half its revenue came from its ICT infrastructure business, followed by consumer products and cloud computing. “A new journey awaits us in 2024,” Hu said.

Huawei’s surge in profits follows a year in which the firm raised eyebrows in Washington with the release of its Mate 60 Pro smartphone.

Powered by an advanced domestically produced chip, it sparked debate about whether US attempts to curb China’s access to semiconductor technologies had been effective.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Bloomberg in December the development was “deeply concerning”.

The Mate 60 Pro has shown the ability to bite into key competitor Apple’s profits in China, analysts cited by Bloomberg have said. (AFP)