This week, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is making headlines as the Chinese technology giant announced record revenue for 2024. This has been a comeback year for the Chinese technology powerhouse. The firm reported fourth quarter total revenues of 862.1 billion Chinese yuan (US$118.2 billion), which was a 22.4% YoY increase. Huawei’s recent success story has come from pivoting in an incredible way to dance around U.S. sanctions. The firm’s been able to dominate premium smartphone markets.
Huawei’s consumer business played a major role in this financial success. Sales hit 339 billion yuan, a stunning 38.3% year-on-year surge. This figure stands as the second-highest revenue achieved by Huawei’s consumer division, highlighting the company’s robust market presence despite geopolitical challenges. Combined with a semiconductor breakthrough at home, it has made China’s smartphone segment resurgent. This revival has greatly improved international sales of its flagship phones as well.
Huawei’s net profit plummeted as well, dropping to 62.6 billion yuan, a 28% decrease compared to 2023. Despite this setback, the company’s revenue growth was primarily fueled by its two largest segments—ICT infrastructure and consumer businesses—contributing to approximately 82% of Huawei’s total revenue.
The ICT infrastructure division, encompassing Huawei’s carrier operations, experienced a modest year-on-year revenue rise of 4.9%, totaling 369.9 billion yuan. Meanwhile, Huawei’s Intelligent Automotive Solution business reported a staggering 474.4% increase in revenue to 26.4 billion yuan, reflecting the company’s expanding footprint in the automotive technology sector.
In a bid to counteract U.S. sanctions that have restricted access to key technologies like semiconductors, Huawei has aggressively pursued innovation and diversification within its product lines. The company introduced eight new premium smartphones, including its first-ever trifold flagship. This innovation increased its market share in China from 12% to 16%. Significantly, Huawei’s smartphone shipments in China increased by 37% YoY.
The impact of this largely comes from Huawei’s R&D spending. They’re spending 179.7 billion yuan, or 20.8% of their revenue, on doing so as they look to shore up their technological edge. With HarmonyOS 5 expected to release in 2024, the next year-and-a-half will likely be a defining period for Huawei. This release marks the first of Huawei’s in-house, self-developed mobile OS to run without dependence on Google’s Android open-source code.