Huawei's revenues fell to CNY 634 billion (USD 99.5 billion) in 2021, according to a a new year message released by rotating chairman Guo Ping. That's down 29 percent from the CNY 891.4 billion in sales reported by the company for 2020.
Despite "all the trials and tribulations", the company worked with customers and partners to ensure "business as usual", Ping said. The message comes as the company faced a second year of sanctions from the US, limiting its access to key components and software from US-based suppliers. After adjusting its strategy accordingly, "overall performance was in line with our forecasts", Ping said.
According to the chairman, Huawei’s carrier business remained stable during the year, and its enterprise business "experienced solid growth". Mainly its smartphone business was affected, prompting the company to explore other device categories such as smartwatches and cars. Further sales figures were not disclosed.
In the new year, the company also plans further expansion in cloud services and the energy sector. The new division Huawei Digital Power business will develop clean energy and help traditional energy sectors go digital, the company said. It's also still developing its own open-source operating systems, Euler OS for enterprise applications and Harmony for consumer devices.
At the same time, Ping stressed that Huawei would not lose focus on its core business, ensuring strategic investment to maintain its long-term competitiveness. According to the executive, "cutting costs won't pave the way to sustainable survival".
