Reported by Sareena Dayaram

Huawei says its “back on track” after its revenue neared $100 billion for this year, despite continuing US sanctions on the Chinese conglomerate.

Sales to surged to more than 700 billion yuan ($98.7 billion) in 2023, the company said on Friday, which represents 9% growth from the $642 billion yuan ($92.4 billion) reported from 2022. That’s off the back of what Huawei says is its “solid” ICT infrastructure business as well as better-than-expected performance from its devices business, which includes smartphones.

Huawei’s latest earnings comes as the Chinese company continues to grapple with years-long US sanctions, which are aimed at restricting its access to American technology, particularly cutting-edge chips. This August, Huawei released its first 5G smartphone, representing a chipmaking breakthrough for Beijing, which has previously relied on US components for such devices.

“After years of hard work, we’ve managed to weather the storm. And now we’re pretty much back on track,” said Ken Hu, one Huawei’s rotating chairmen in end-of-year message to staff. “We have to be aware that changes in the business environment are not caused by geopolitical conflict alone, but also by fluctuating global economic cycles.”

Huawei’s smartphone performance

Huawei said on Friday that its device business surpassed expectations for 2023. It plans to “double down” on efforts in this business for 2024. 

In August, Huawei announced the Mate 60 Pro smartphone, which was powered by a made-in-China chip that sanctions were designed to prevent. The handset shocked industry experts who were perplexed by how Huawei could produce an advanced smartphone complete with 5G support without key American components. However, it also indicated that Huawei had reached a new degree of self-sufficiency that China seemingly never had before.

Read full report: https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/huaweis-2023-revenue-soars-despite-us-sanctions/