Yahoo Finance Huawei steals market share from Apple despite Western sanctions
Huawei’s profits have surged more than six-fold after the Chinese technology champion overcame Western sanctions to steal market share from Apple.
The Shenzhen-based company reported a 19.6bn yuan (£2.1bn) profit in the three months to March, up 564pc on the same period a year ago.
This comes despite facing US export controls and bans on overseas sales of its networking equipment in the last year, including in the UK.
The company released a new high-end smartphone in August that was made largely with home-grown microchips.
This proved to be a surprise hit among Chinese consumers and helped Huawei squeeze sales of Apple’s iPhone in the Far East.
It has also been developing advanced artificial intelligence chips in an attempt to compete with Silicon Valley giant Nvidia, which has seen its sales to China curbed by the Biden administration.
China has invested heavily in catching up to the US and Taiwan in advanced semiconductor production, reaping rewards for companies like Huawei that have struggled to get hold of foreign-made chips.
Huawei said revenues had risen by 37pc in the quarter to 178.5bn yuan. The sales came in the critical Chinese New Year period when shoppers typically spend heavily on electronics.
This marks a stark reversal in Huawei’s fortunes after chief executive Guo Ping said in 2020 that the company’s goal was “survival” after “nonstop aggression from the US government”.
In December, the company said it was “back on track”, claiming it had weathered the storm after reporting an increase in annual revenues.
According to research firm Counterpoint, Huawei’s smartphone sales in China rose by 70pc in the first quarter of the year, putting it almost level with Apple.
By comparison, Apple’s sales are believed to have fallen sharply. The US tech giant is expected to reveal the scale of its China sales fall on Thursday when it reports results for the first three months of the year.
China has discouraged government employees from bringing foreign-made devices to work.
Huawei is also investing heavily in smart car technology, seeking deals with major carmakers.
