Huawei Chairman Liang Hua said at the Guangdong High-Quality Development Conference in early February that the company's total sales revenue for 2024 surpassed CNY860 billion (approx. US$118.42 billion).
Huawei's 2024 annual report, released on March 31, showed a total revenue of CNY862.072 billion, up 22.4% from the previous year. Net profit, however, dropped 28% to CNY62.574 billion, reflecting strong revenue growth but shrinking margins.
Mixed performance across business lines; auto solutions surge nearly 5x
By segment, ICT infrastructure remained Huawei's top-earning business in 2024, generating CNY369.903 billion in revenue, a 4.9% increase from the previous year. The consumer device segment posted a strong rebound, with revenue climbing 38.3% to CNY339.006 billion.
Cloud services revenue rose 8.5% to CNY38.523 billion, while digital energy solutions brought in CNY68.678 billion, up 24.4%. Intelligent automotive solutions saw the sharpest growth, surging 474.4% to CNY26.353 billion and turning a profit for the first time.
China market accounts for over 70% of total revenue
China remained Huawei's largest market, generating CNY615.264 billion in revenue—up 30.5% year-over-year and accounting for 71.37% of total revenue.
Revenue from EMEA totaled CNY148.355 billion, up 2.1%; Asia Pacific brought in CNY43.306 billion, up 5.5%; and the Americas posted CNY36.301 billion, up 2.7%.
R&D spending hits CNY179.7B; nearly 55% of staff focused on innovation
Huawei invested CNY179.7 billion in R&D in 2024, accounting for 20.8% of its annual revenue. Over the past decade, total R&D spending has surpassed CNY1.249 trillion.
By year-end, Huawei had around 113,000 R&D employees, representing 54.1% of its global workforce. The company holds over 150,000 active patents worldwide.
Progress across strategic areas: AI, devices, cloud, and auto in focus
Huawei reported steady performance in its connectivity division despite broader industry headwinds. The computing business expanded significantly, supported by a decade-long focus on AI.
The consumer devices unit returned to growth as the HarmonyOS ecosystem neared a pivotal development milestone.
Huawei Cloud emphasized business structure optimization, while digital energy remained focused on quality. The intelligent automotive division marked its first full year of profitability.
In-house chips and AI ecosystem expand, global cloud reach accelerates
Huawei's Kunpeng and Ascend chip ecosystems made steady progress in 2024, backed by more than 8,500 partners and 6.65 million developers. Together, they co-developed over 20,000 solutions. The company also introduced the Ascend CANN 8.0 heterogeneous computing architecture and fully opened its openMind enablement suite to support ecosystem innovation.
Huawei's Pangu 5.0 foundation model has been deployed across more than 30 industries and 400 application scenarios—including steel, manufacturing, and rail—powering digital transformation and operational efficiency.
In automotive, Huawei's Qiankun intelligent driving system and Harmony cockpit improved in-vehicle user experience, while Qiankun vehicle control, optics, and cloud systems advanced rapidly. In 2024, shipments of smart auto components surpassed 23 million units. Huawei also collaborated with over 600 supply chain partners to supply high-quality intelligent vehicle components to automakers.
By year-end 2024, Huawei Cloud had expanded to 33 geographic regions and 96 availability zones, serving customers in more than 170 countries and territories. Its global cloud ecosystem now includes over 7.8 million developers and 45,000 partners.
Huawei execs: AI-powered terminals will see rapid uptake
Rotating Chairwoman and CFO Meng Wanzhou said demand for AI computing will surge over the next decade, creating significant system-level opportunities.
Huawei rotating chairwoman and CFO, Meng Wanzhou. Credit: AFP
Meng described the next 1–2 years as a critical window for shaping the AI terminal landscape. "AI is no longer just a feature—it's the core capability defining next-generation user experience," she said. With rapid progress in inference performance and cost, Huawei expects AI terminal adoption to scale quickly. "We are committed to long-term growth and evolving with the tech landscape," she added.
Chairman Liang Hua said 2024 was a challenging year, but Huawei met its business goals thanks to support from global customers, partners, consumers, and broader society. ICT infrastructure remained stable, consumer devices returned to growth, and the intelligent automotive business saw rapid expansion.
Looking ahead, Liang noted that while external uncertainty remains, the trends toward digitalization, intelligence, and low-carbon development are unmistakable. Huawei will continue investing in its long-term strategy and improving its global offerings.
Article edited by Jack Wu
