Despite intensifying US sanctions, Huawei tried to prove it could navigate challenges and make progress by recording a surge in profit in 2023 in addition to a widening ecosystem and technological breakthroughs.
Huawei released its financial results for 2023. Its sales grew by 9.63% to CNY704 billion (US$97.49 billion), with net income surging by 144.5% to CNY86.95 billion. Huawei's R&D spending rose from CNY161.49 billion in 2022 to CNY164.72 billion.
According to the annual report, Huawei has undergone numerous trials over the past few years and has continuously grown amidst challenges. Huawei has cultivated a robust device ecosystem built upon HarmonyOS and Kirin, a broad computing ecosystem founded on openEuler and Kunpeng, an AI computing ecosystem anchored by CANN and Ascend, and a versatile developer ecosystem facilitated by Huawei Cloud as a centralized hub.
According to Huawei, HarmonyOS has been integrated into over 800 million devices. HarmonyOS has engaged over 9.5 million developers across Harmony, Kunpeng, Ascend, and Huawei Cloud, adding that the Ascend-based AI computing ecosystem has demonstrated rapid growth.
In 2023, Huawei unveiled the All Intelligence strategy to support various AI models and applications for all industries. The Kunpeng and Ascend ecosystems are steadily growing, with over 5.7 million developers and more than 6,300 partners completing over 17,400 solution certifications.
In addition to releasing Pangu Models 3.0, the company worked with more than 300 partners to build an intelligent industry ecosystem in the intelligent automotive solution domain.
As to consumer electronics, Huawei said it launched smartphones, including the Mate 60 Series, and unveiled a new ultra-high-end brand ULTIMATE DESIGN. As of the conclusion of 2023, Huawei had shipped a cumulative sum exceeding 100 million tablets and over 150 million wearable devices globally, catering to a user base exceeding 450 million in fitness and health.
Huawei's resurgence in areas including consumer electronics came at the expense of other vendors, particularly Apple. Nikkei Asia quoted Runar Bjorhovde, an analyst at Canalys, saying that Huawei reclaimed a position in the top five in the smartphone market in China, but most of its smartphone shipments remained in China.
Huawei financial summary (CNYm) | ||||||
Financial | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | YoY for 2023 (%) |
Sales | 858,833 | 891,368 | 636,807 | 642,338 | 704,174 | 9.63 |
Operating income | 77,835 | 72,501 | 121,412 | 42,216 | 104,401 | 147.3 |
Net income | 62,656 | 64,649 | 113,718 | 35,562 | 86,950 | 144.5 |
Operating margin (%) | 9.1 | 8.1 | 19.1 | 6.6 | 14.8 | |
Progit margin (%) | 7.3 | 7.25 | 17.86 | 5.54 | 12.35 | |
Source: Huawei, March 2024
Hauwei sales by business (CNYm) | |||
Business | 2022 | 2023 | YoY (%) |
ICT Infrastructure | 353,978 | 361,997 | 2.27 |
Consumer | 214,463 | 251,496 | 17.27 |
Cloud computing | 45,342 | 55,287 | 21.93 |
Digital Power | 50,806 | 52,607 | 3.54 |
Intelligent Automotive Solutions | 2,077 | 4,737 | 128.07 |
Other | 3,978 | 8,624 | 116.79 |
Elimination | -28,306 | -30,574 | |
Source: Huawei, March 2024
Huawei sales by region (CNYm) | |||
Region | 2022 | 2023 | YoY (%) |
China | 403999 | 471303 | 16.66 |
EMEA | 149206 | 145343 | -2.59 |
Asia Pacific | 48048 | 41041 | -14.58 |
Americas | 31898 | 35362 | 10.86 |
Other | 9187 | 11125 | 21.10 |
Source: Huawei, March 2024
