Looking at how Huawei’s been doing in recent quarters, one would think the global smartphone market is booming and the Chinese firm is a beloved manufacturer that any country is happy to have.
The reality is much bleaker, though that actually makes the company’s newest financial results ever more impressive; in spite of the concerning stagnation experienced by the handset industry as a whole and Washington’s continued opposition to allowing Huawei any semblance of a shot at winning significant market share in the U.S., Huawei generated close to $26.8 billion in revenue over the course of the first quarter of 2019, the technology juggernaut said Monday, disclosing the milestone as part of its Q1 report.
Further underlining the unprecedented nature of this figure is the fact Huawei published a quarterly report in the first place; up until now, the firm only summarized its performances on a half-year basis. Compared to the same period in 2018, this year’s first-quarter results mark a 39-percent increase.
That’s largely thanks to the conglomerate’s Consumer Bussiness Group helmed by Richard Yu which is officially Huawei’s top-performing unit as of the second half of 2018. The company managed 59 million smartphone shipments over the observed period, signaling it’s once again on course to break its annual record and inch closer to challenging Samsung’s dominance in the global handset market, something it repeatedly highlighted as its next goal in recent months.
Wearables, smart home gadgets, general Internet of Things solutions, and related products are also on the rise, Huawei said, without elaborating on the matter.
The same report also saw Huawei confirm it signed 40 5G equipment procurement contracts with various wireless carriers the world over as of March 31, signaling the United States’ efforts to lobby against the Shenzen-based firm and establish it as a global security threat due to its close ties to China’s communist government were largely unsuccessful. So unsuccessful, in fact, that Huawei managed to ship more than 70,000 5G base stations by the end of the first three months of 2019, which can be characterized as nothing short of a defeat for the U.S. government’s recent moves on the foreign policy front.
Bittersweet achievements
Huawei’s investments in a broad range of markets beyond wireless now appear to be paying off, yet its newest achievements are rather bittersweet seeing how much trouble the company has been enduring in recent times; among other things, the firm’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, also the daughter of its founder Ren Zhengfei, is still fighting off a U.S. extradition request in Canada, in addition to facing multiple criminal charges filed by the stateside Department of Justice.
There’s currently no end in sight for the bizarre case, especially given how Ms. Meng is far from the only Huawei official to be charged by the DOJ – she just happens to be the most high-profile defendant.
Ultimately, Huawei appears to be on course to continue with its insane growth, defying the U.S. efforts to stifle its operations, though it remains to be seen how sustainable that trend proves to be in the long term.