Huawei’s H1 revenue growth has exceeded expectations given that the Chinese vendor was placed on a US trade blacklist in May.
Between January and June, the vendor reported a 30% year-on-year increase in revenue. According to Bloomberg, Huawei attributed this to preparing thoroughly prior to being hit with the US trading restrictions, as it had stockpiled equipment and sourced alternative suppliers for components.
In June, Huawei’s founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei cautioned that the vendor stood to lose $30 billion in turnover across the following two years as a direct result of the US ban. He stated that the company had predicted a $100 billion decrease in revenue for 2019.
Huawei’s total revenue in 2018 was CNY721 billion ($105 billion), a year-on-year increase of 19.5%. For Q1 2019, the vendor saw its revenue spike by 39% to CNY180 billion. The company has now signed 50 commercial 5G contracts.
While the results are positive, the ban’s true impact has not yet hit Huawei, and the company is facing renewed backlash in the US after The Washington Post published allegations that it helped to build a 3G network in North Korea. There are also ongoing security concerns relating to its equipment that have resulted in countries imposing a blanket ban on using Huawei kit in 5G deployments.
