Shenzhen: Chinese telecom giant Huawei here on Tuesday said its profit in 2019 reached 62.7 billion yuan, ($8.9 billion), an increase of 5.6 percent over 2018. It’s also its weakest profit growth in three years amid tensions with the US.
The company’s consumer business reached 467.3 billion yuan, up 34 percent year-on-year. Huawei said it shipped a total of 240 million smartphones in 2019.
“2019 was an extraordinary year,” said Huawei’s Rotating Chairman Eric Xu. “Despite enormous outside pressure, our team forged ahead with a singular focus on creating value for our customers. We worked hard to earn their respect and trust, as well as that of our partners around the globe. The business remains solid,” Xu said.
Huawei faced a lot of challenges last year, especially after the US imposed curbs on American companies on doing business with Huawei, citing national security concerns.
Xu cautioned that 2020 could be even more challenging for the company. “The external environment will only get more complicated going forward,” he said.
“We need to keep enhancing the competitiveness of our products and services, promoting open innovation, and creating greater value for our customers and society at large. This is the only way we can seize the historic opportunities presented by the digital and intelligent transformation of industries, and maintain robust growth in the long run,” Xu said.
As part of a long-term, ongoing investment in technological innovation and research, Huawei invested 15.3 percent of 2019 revenue — 131.7 billion yuan — into R&D. Its total R&D spend over the past decade now exceeds 600 billion yuan.
In 2019, sales revenue from Huawei’s carrier business, which led the commercial rollout of 5G network, reached 296.7 billion yuan, up 3.8 percent year-on-year.
