Chinese telecoms giant Huawei returns to normalcy after US restrictions

Chinese telecoms company Huawei has registered its third straight quarter of growth, declaring a return to normalcy after overcoming a number of restrictions in the United States in 2022.

Huawei’s sales grew by 7.2% to 191 billion yuan (R465 billion) in the December quarter, that is according to Bloomberg’s calculations off annual figures.

This follows a period of carving out new income streams from areas such as smart cars and cloud services.

It is reported that sales in 2022 stood at 636.9 billion yuan, announced the Shenzhen-based mobile telecoms company.

BusinessTech Africa understands that Huawei is trying to open up new markets and businesses after US tech export restrictions gutted its smartphone business — briefly the world’s largest — and curtailed the sale of advanced gear in developed markets.

Among those trade restrictions is a ban on contract chipmakers producing semiconductors designed by Huawei, effectively kneecapping its HiSilicon design business.

On behalf of Huawei, rotating Chairman Eric Xu warned in an annual new year’s message to employees of macroeconomic uncertainty in 2023, though he made no mention of China’s abrupt reversal of Covid policy.

However, Xu expressed that longer-term demand for technology remains intact but he didn’t specify how the company might overcome export restrictions.

Huawei has spent much of the past three years developing, researching, and sourcing alternatives to American components.

“In 2022, we successfully pulled ourselves out of crisis mode. US restrictions are now our new normal, and we’re back to business as usual,” Xu said.

“The macro environment may be rife with uncertainty, but what we can be certain about is that digitalization and decarbonization are the way forward, and they’re where future opportunities lie.

”Huawei also sought out alternative sources of income by selling patents, technology services, and wireless gear to new customers from automakers to coal mines and industrial parks. It began levying royalties from the world’s biggest smartphone brands, including Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.”

In addition, the company has already sealed more than 20 patent licence deals in 2022 and these cover smartphones, connected vehicles, networking, and the Internet of Things, according to Alan Fan, the company’s global head of IP. 

“We’ve managed to keep our heads above the water because we fought together, united as one,” Xu wrote.

“2023 will be the first year that we return to business as usual with external restrictions still in place.”