In the first three quarters of 2023, I witnessed a slight increase in revenue for China’s Huawei Technologies (HWT.UL), which attributed the gain to its cloud and digital power businesses and the increasing competitiveness of its automotive components section.
For the first three quarters of the year, Huawei reported sales of 456.6 billion yuan ($62.4 billion), a 2.4% increase over the same period last year.
Reuters estimates show that profit increased by 177.8% to 73.05 billion yuan during that time, in contrast to the relatively little increase in sales.
According to a company representative, the increase in earnings was caused by payments associated with Huawei’s November 2020 sale of its Honor smartphone division and enhancements to management and sales strategy.
Reuters calculations show sales increased 1.5% to 145.7 billion yuan for the third quarter. The expansion was “in line with the forecast,” according to a press statement issued by Huawei’s chairman-in-waiting, Ken Hu.
Three research organizations indicated this week that Huawei’s smartphone sales increased in the third quarter due to the launch of the Mate 60 series at the end of August. Counterpoint Research reported 37% year-over-year growth for the business.
Since U.S. export restrictions in place since 2019 have had a significant negative impact on Huawei’s smartphone business, the company has recovered, though from a low base. Huawei increased its share from 9.1% to 12.9% during the quarter, making it the sixth-largest smartphone brand in China, according to Counterpoint.
According to Counterpoint, Honor maintained its leading position with 11.8 million devices shipped and an 18% market share.
Though the Mate 60 series was introduced somewhat late in the quarter, the Huawei representative credited the third-quarter revenue rise to development in the digital power, cloud, and auto parts industries.
Richard Yu, the CEO of Huawei’s Smart Car division, stated earlier this month that the company is investing in its supply chain to meet demand after Aito, an electric car brand that Huawei supports, received over 70,000 orders for its updated M7 model.
