US 5G ban fails to dent Huawei revenue

Huawei is racing to develop a 5G network with Russia's MegaFon, where a film can be downloaded in seconds. — Huawei is racing to develop a 5G network with Russia’s MegaFon, where a film can be downloaded in seconds.

The Shenzhen-based Huawei’s first quarter revenue rose 39 per cent from the previous year to Rmb179.7bn (£21bn), suggesting US efforts to persuade countries to ban the Chinese group’s telecoms equipment from their 5G networks have not tempered growth. Although Australia and Canada have joined US in blocking Huawei kit several European countries have effectively rowed back from their initial hardline stance.

Huawaei is privately held and the latest figures the first quarterly numbers although unaudited shows the increase in revenue was sharply above last year’s annual rise of 19.5 per cent, and the net profit margin of 8 per cent was slightly above the year ago figure.

The Chinese company is leading the global race to build 5G mobile networks and has secured 40 commercial contracts, said that by the end of March it had shipped over 70, 000 5G base stations globally and 59m smartphones.

In the second quarter last year, Huawei overtook Apple to become the world’s number two supplier of smartphones and now has industry leader Samsung of South Korea in its sights.

Samsung has supplied more than 53, 000 5G base stations in South Korea, but has not disclosed their overseas shipment figures.

Huawei last year spend Rmb101.5bn about 15 per cent of sales, on R&D, while its top ranking market share in telecoms kit means it is heavily embedded in existing networks and more attractive choice for carriers looking to move to 5G on a non-standalone basis.