US ACTION AGAINST HUAWEI HAS DAMAGED TRUST ACROSS THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY

Huawei will invest more in businesses that are less reliant on advance process techniques, Xu said, highlighting the company’s intelligent driving business, in which he said it would invest more than $1bn this year.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Its autonomous driving technology allows cars to travel over 1,000km, overtaking Tesla in that area, Xu said. Huawei was working with three domestic carmakers on sub-brands that will be designated “Huawei Inside” models, he said.

In February, Reuters reported that Huawei planned to make electric vehicles under its own brand, which Huawei denies.

Xu said that US action against Huawei had damaged trust across the semiconductor industry, and contributed to global chip shortages as Chinese companies rushed to stockpile three to six months worth of semiconductors last year.

The combined demand from the Chinese market for chip supplies that are not affected by US rules or which could be compliant with US rules would lead companies to invest in chips and also eventually supply Huawei, Xu said. “If that can be done, and if our inventory level can help Huawei to last to that time, that will help us to address the challenges we face.”

Xu said the global rollout of 5G telecoms networks had “exceeded expectations”.

In 2020, the company saw a modest 3.2% rise in its annual profit as overseas revenues declined due to pandemicrelated disruption and the effect of the US sanctions, it said last month.