Chinese giant telecom equipment maker Huawei released its 2021 annual report on Monday revealing that sales fell but profit rose. Chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, appeared at a press conference in Shenzhen to announce the company’s annual results for the first time since being held in Canada in 2018. According to the report, the company registered a revenue of $99.9 billion in 2021 which is 28.6% less compared to the previous year. Profits on the other hand rose by 75.9% to $17.8 billion. "Despite a revenue decline in 2021, our ability to make a profit and generate cash flows is increasing, and we are more capable of dealing with uncertainty,” said Meng.
Meng Wanzhou was released by Canadian authorities last year, terminating a grapple with Washington over the company’s dealings with Iran. Her release prompted her to accept responsibility for misrepresenting Huawei’s dealings with Iran. Meng added that Huawei’s “overall financial resilience is strengthening” and “The company is more capable of dealing with uncertainty.”
The company attributed the performance to its ability to forecast and develop ecosystems, zeroing in on consumer needs and demands, etc. "Overall, our performance was in line with forecast. Our carrier business remained stable, our enterprise business experienced steady growth, and our consumer business quickly expanded into new domains. In addition, we embarked on a fast track of ecosystem development," said Guo Ping, Huawei's Rotating Chairman at the press conference.
Some of Huawei’s products that contributed to its revenue are smart screens, true wireless stereo earbuds, smart wearables, and Huawei mobile services. Also, the company’s new operating system, HarmonyOS was used in over 220 million Huawei devices as of 2021, making it the world's fastest-growing mobile OS.
Former US President Donald Trump added Huawei to a trade blacklist in May 2019, restraining the Chinese tech giant from conducting business with US companies without government approval. Google products and processor chips are some of the components that Huawei couldn’t access due to the sanction.
