China’s Huawei says 2021 revenues down almost 30 per cent, sees challenges ahead

Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd (HWT.UL), battered by US sanctions, expects 2021 revenue to have declined nearly 30 per cent and predicted continued challenges in the New Year.

Revenue for the year is expected to be 634 billion yuan ($99.48 billion), rotating chairman Guo Ping said in a New Year letter to employees on Friday.

That represents a fall of 28.9 per cent from 2020 revenues of 891.4 billion yuan.

Guo said next year “will come with its fair share of challenges” but that he was satisfied with Huawei’s 2021 business performance.

“An unpredictable business environment, the politicisation of technology, and a growing deglobalisation movement all present serious challenges,” the letter, published on the company’s website, read.

In 2019, the US Trump administration imposed a trade ban on Huawei, citing national security, which barred the company from using Alphabet Inc’s (GOOGL.O) Android for its new smartphones, among other critical US-origin technology.

The US sanctions, together with weaker domestic consumption due to the coronavirus, weighed on Huawei.

“We need to stick to our strategy and respond rationally to external forces that are beyond our control,” Guo said.

Huawei will continue focusing on information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices, the letter said.

Third-quarter revenue fell 38 per cent compared with a year earlier, Huawei’s latest earnings report shows. The first three quarters’ revenue was down by almost a third year-on-year.