Huawei expects its sales growth slowed slightly this year, to 32 percent from 37 percent in 2015. In a letter to staff and customers posted on the company's website, rotating CEO Eric Xu said revenues are expected to reach CNY 520 billion over the full year.
He warned that the "flock of black swans – both political and economic" that affected the world in 2016 is expected to continue in 2017, raising challenges for the company. Huawei's focus will be on maintaining profitable growth and cash flow, stopping the increase in costs from outpacing sales growth and better managing accounts and inventories, Xu said, adding every representative office should act as its own profit centre.
He also called for less "unnecessary formalities" and a greater focus on creating value and solving problems for customers. This means less marketing events, talks of vision and office meetings and more visits to production sites and case studies. The company should "avoid blind optimism and rhetoric about Huawei as an industry leader or how it has entered uncharted territory; give due respect to uncertainty and prepare for the unknown with more independent thinking", Xu said.
