Huawei revenue sinks as smartphones hurt by US sanctions

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese tech giant Huawei's revenue fell 29.4% from a year earlier in the first half of 2021 as smartphones sales tumbled under U.S. sanctions imposed in a fight with Beijing over technology and security.

Revenue declined to 320.4 billion yuan ($49.6 billion), according to figures released Friday, from 454 billion yuan ($70.2 billion) reported for the first half of 2020. Part of that was due to Huawei's November sale of its low-cost Honor smartphone brand in hopes of reviving the unit by separating it from the sanctions on the parent company.

Huawei Technologies Ltd. is struggling to hold onto market share after then-President Donald Trump cut off access in 2019 to U.S. technology and services including high-end processor chips and Google maps and music. Washington says Huawei is a security risk and might aid Chinese spying, which the company denies.

Sales by Huawei's consumer unit, which includes smartphones, tumbled 47% compared with figures reported for the first half of 2020. That unit was 42% of total revenue.

Sales of network gear and other technology to phone and internet companies fell 14.2% while revenue for the enterprise unit rose 17.2%.

“Our aim is to survive, and to do so sustainably,” said Eric Xu, one of three executives who take turns as chairman, in a statement. “Despite a decline in revenue from our consumer business caused by external factors, we are confident that our carrier and enterprise businesses will continue to grow steadily.”

The company gave no profit figure but said its net margin was 9.8%. That would be a decline from the 11.1% reported for the first quarter.

Huawei, headquartered in the southern city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, reported earlier it eked out a 3.8% profit gain in 2020 to 891.4 billion yuan ($135.8...