Huawei's Revenue Topped $122 Billion In 2019, But The Firm Admitted Difficulty In Surviving 2020

Dhir Acharya - Jan 03, 2020

Huawei got a record revenue of $122 billion in 2019 despite being blacklisted by the US government. However, 2020 will be much more challenging.

On the last day of 2018, Huawei reported its resilient revenue for last year, proving that the company continues to grow in spite of the banning order from the US government. However, this year will likely be a bigger challenge for the Chinese firm.

In his New Year’s message sent to Huawei’s employees, rotating chairman Eric Xu wrote that its revenue topped $122 billion in 2019, which is 18 percent higher than the previous year and a new record for Huawei.

According to Xu, the Chinese firm, also the world’s second-largest phone maker, sold a total of 240 million smartphones in 2019, as opposed to 206 million handsets in 2018. He added that they projected the figures to be higher, but the business is going well and the company is standing strong despite adversity.

The rotating chairman acknowledged that the firm is facing a situation in which the US government has a strategic, long-term campaign against its business. He said that if the campaign goes on for a long time, it will put Huawei in an even more difficult stage, challenging its survival let alone development.

Xu said that the top priority for Huawei in 2020 would be survival.

Last year, in May, the US government added the Chinese tech giant to the trade blacklist of the Commerce Department and placed new restrictions on the company’s ability to sell and do business with US firms. In addition, the US government urged its allies to stop using Huawei products to build 5G telecom network infrastructures, accusing the company of posing national security threats.

Then in October 2019, during a conference in New Delhi, Wilbur Ross, US Commerce Secretary, said that he hopes India would not inadvertently subject itself to security risks by using Huawei’s 5G equipment.

However, not all allies followed the US and abandoned Huawei. On Monday, the Chinese firm successfully got approved to participate in India’s 5G trials.

Huawei India CEO Jay Chen said in a statement at the time: