Huawei plans to increase this year's mobile shipments only modestly, from 139 million in 2016 to 140-150 million units, reported Bloomberg. The company will back away from the segment of very low-end devices and focus on its latest model Mate 10 and challenging Apple in the premium segment.
The Mate 10 will debut right around the time Apple is expected to take the lid off its own flagship device, but will trump the iPhone in many aspects, said Richard Yu, chief of Huawei’s consumer division. "The Mate 10, which has much longer battery life with a full-screen display, quicker changing speed, better photographing capability and many other features that will help us compete with Apple," he said.
Yu issued his challenge after Huawei reported a sharp fall in revenue growth in the first half; it posted a 15-percent rise in revenue to CNY 283.1 billion (USD 42 billion) in the first six months, half the pace at which sales grew in 2016. The company's earnings grew at their lowest pace in five years in 2016, as it sank money into 5G research and massive marketing to gain ground in smartphones.
Huawei’s consumer division, comprising mainly smartphones, reported a 36-percent rise in revenue to CNY 105.4 billion during the first six months. The unit is targeting 25-percent growth in consumer revenue to USD 33 billion this year, down from about 42 percent in 2016. It also sells smartwatches, tablets and accessories.
According to Yu, the company is giving up the very low-end devices because the margin in this is extremely low, and it’s not making enough profit. Huawei also intends to sustain the pace of an overseas expansion that’s already taken it into Europe and other more developed markets. The priority is Europe, China and Japan.
