Huawei boss pledges to up the ante on smartphones and enterprise, denies spying controversyHuawei sales climb 8.5% and profits soar over one third, according to its just-released 2013 financials.
The Chinese-owned company reported a strong financial performance across all business units, with total sales rising to US$39.5 billion, up 8.5% year-on-year, while net profit surged over 30% to US$3.47 billion.
In 2013, Huawei’s enterprise and consumer units, which includes smartphones and tablets were the big performers up 32% and 18% to CNY15.2 billion and CNY57.0 billion, respectively.
CEO Eric Xu pledged to build its smartphone portfolio in the mid-range and high level, as it looks for increased momentum as one of the worlds largest phone makers. Carrier business was “solid”, up 4% year-on-year.
65% of its revenue came from markets outside its native China, although rose in its domestic market also, with revenues up 14%. Acting CEO Xu attributed the solid results to the ICT giant’s significant global presence and effective strategy execution.
However, in Australia, Huawei has been blocked from working on the NBN, due to possible company links to the Chinese army that officials fear may compromise security.
However, Huawei’s CEO, Eric Xu, yesterday denied the spying allegations, which have also done the rounds in the US, reports Reuters.
“Nobody has ever said that Huawei has the capacity to spy on the U.S. network and things like that. For a business organisation, no one would be so unwise as to do such a thing.”
The general “concern” is that the Chinese government may leverage Huawei’s equipment for spying, he said, adding “I think it will take a lot of effort to address (allegations that Huawei has the capacity to spy).”
He said favorable global macroeconomic and industry environment, and effective strategy execution, helped Huawei basically achieve its business targets for 2013.
Xu is also positive about the future.
“2014 marks a new beginning, not only for Huawei, but for the entire industry. Huawei is still a young company, and the ICT industry is booming. A connected world has unlocked opportunities beyond our imagination.”
The telecoms giant predicts growing penetration of ultra-broadband and mobile broadband, citing LTE as an important “strategic opportunity” in 2014 and says smart devices will become more of an intrinsic necessity to “digital natives” and extensions of people’s sensory systems.
Xu also wants Huawei’s enterprise division to become a global leader.
“While continuing to pursue a more focused strategy and a leaner management style in 2014, we will work to expedite steady growth to lay a solid foundation for the company’s development over the next 10 years, especially to pursue a leading position in the Enterprise business.”
Last year, it invested $5.06 billion into R&D, or almost 13% of revenues, and is playing an active role in the development of 5G network technologies in Europe.
