Huawei growth static despite smartphone success

The last 12 months may have seen Huawei cement its position as the world’s third biggest smartphone manufacturer and finally crack the UK market, but it wasn’t enough to give the Chinese firm a significant boost in growth.

For the first half of 2018 revenue rose 15 per cent to 325.7 billion Yuan (£36.3 billion), the same rate at which it grew last year.

However, the company isn’t too disappointed, stating that it expects to finish the year in a “strong financial position.”

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Huawei finances

It hasn’t broken down these figures any further, but it has enjoyed considerable success in the smartphone arena thanks to the critically acclaimed Huawei P20 flagship smartphone. According to Gartner, Huawei shifted 40 million handsets in Q1, giving it a 10.5 per cent share of the global market.

Meanwhile, it is one of the world’s biggest telecommunications network equipment manufacturers and will likely receive a boost from mobile operators rolling out 5G. Earlier this week, rival Nokia and T-Mobile reached a $3.5 billion ‘multi-year’ agreement for 5G equipment, indicative of the sums on offer.

However, it has struggled in some territories, most notably the US, due to perceived national security concerns. Huawei has continually denied such allegations and its products are used by several UK telcos, including BT.

Earlier this month a British government report found it could only offer “limited” assurance that Huawei kit was safe to use because of a lack of progress in resolving previous concerns, such as the safeguarding of its supply chain. Huawei said it is committed to addressing these issues.

Steve McCaskill is TechRadar Pro's resident mobile industry expert, covering all aspects of the UK and global news, from operators to service providers and everything in between. He is a former editor of Silicon UK and journalist with over a decade's experience in the technology industry, writing about technology, in particular, telecoms, mobile and sports tech, sports, video games and media.