Huawei Looks at 5G, Cloud as Path Beyond Sanctions

Huawei's rotating chairman Ken Hu speaks at the company's global analyst summit in Shenzhen. Photo: Reuters.

Huawei Technologies has identified new ways to expand in the face of mounting challenges such as US sanctions, its rotating chairman said on Tuesday.

The Chinese telecommunications equipment company said it would focus on helping businesses to use 5G technology, cloud computing and to improve their energy efficiency.

Rotating chairman Ken Hu said on Tuesday the company faced an even more daunting year than in 2021 as geopolitics, the pandemic, rising commodity prices and fluctuating exchange rates add to difficulties.

Huawei has faced difficulties operating internationally since 2019, when the US put the group on an export blacklist, applying immense pressure to its once mighty handset business.

The US said Huawei is a security risk, which the company has denied.

Addressing Huawei’s annual analyst summit on Tuesday, Hu echoed comments the company made a year ago that developing new and more resilient business areas was essential to survival.

“We know in our hearts, Huawei still faces a lot of challenges and we need to redouble our efforts,” he said, citing 5G, cloud computing and energy efficiency as growth areas for Huawei.

“Huawei has been unfairly suppressed and sanctioned and we can’t source some advanced components,” he added.

Huawei’s revenue fell 29% last year to 636.8 billion yuan ($97.36 billion), while net profit rose 76% to 113.7 billion yuan, buoyed by the sale of budget smartphone unit Honor.

The company is under scrutiny over whether it plans to stay in Russia, as many Western firms have pulled out following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine that began on February 24.

It has also faced internal pressure, as two of its British board members resigned in March after it did not condemn Russia’s war. The company did not take any questions on Russia on Tuesday.

Reuters, with additional editing by George Russell

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George Russell

George Russell is a freelance writer and editor based in Hong Kong who has lived in Asia since 1996. His work has been published in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, New York Post, Variety, Forbes and the South China Morning Post.