The chairman of Huawei said the Chinese technology company’s “aim is to survive” as revenue fell almost 30% in the first half of the year.
The Shenzhen-headquartered company, which was put on the U.S. trade blacklist in 2019, announced Friday that it generated 320.4 billion yuan ($49.6 billion) in revenue in the first half of 2021. It’s a significant fall from the 454 billion yuan that Huawei recorded in the first half of 2020.
Huawei said its profit margin grew 0.6% to 9.8%, largely as a result of efficiency improvements, and added that the overall performance was in line with forecasts.
Eric Xu, Huawei’s rotating chairman, said in a statement that the company had set its strategic goals for the next five years.
“Our aim is to survive, and to do so sustainably,” he said.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump put Huawei on an export blacklist in 2019, a move that prevents American firms from doing business with it. For instance, Google was no longer allowed to license its Android mobile operating system to Huawei.
The blacklist blocks U.S. companies from selling or transferring technology to Huawei unless they are granted a special license. It has hampered Huawei’s ability to design its own chips and source other components.
Xu said in April that Huawei has ramped up its research and development investment as part of its efforts to “keep the company afloat, to address supply continuity challenges caused by U.S. bans, and to pursue sustainability well into the future.”
Huawei’s business is split into three subdivisions: carrier, enterprise and consumer.
The company said its carrier business, which sells 5G and other telecommunications infrastructure, grew steadily outside China in the first half of the year. However, in China, which is its largest market by far, it was affected by delays in the 5G network rollout.
