Huawei reported revenues of CNY 858.8 billion (USD 123 billion) for 2019, up 19.1 percent. Net profit rose a slower 5.6 percent to CNY 62.7 billion, and operating cash flow increased 22.4 percent to CNY 91.4 billion.
Despite the ban imposed by the US government on American suppliers to Huawei from May, the company maintained sales growth at a similar level to the 19.5 percent reported for 2018. Profit growth slowed from the double-digital rate of previous years, as the company invested in new supply chains. Huawei said it also increased R&D spending to 15.3 percent of revenue from just over 14 percent the previous year.
Rotating chairman Eric Xu said 2019 "was an extraordinary year for Huawei" and "despite enormous outside pressure, our team forged ahead with a singular focus on creating value for our customers". The company survived the US ban in part thanks to built-up inventories, he said. This will not be possible in 2020, when it faces a full year of the US sanctions. Along with the effects of the coronavirus outbreak, 2020 "will be the most difficult year" for Huawei, Xu said.
The sales growth in 2019 was again led by the company's consumer business. With over 240 million devices shipped, consumer revenues rose 34 percent year-on-year to CNY 467.3 billion. The carrier networks business suffered more from the US pressure and general market weakness, with sales up only 3.8 percent to CNY 296.7 billion. Revenues from the enterprise business increased 8.6 percent to CNY 89.7 billion in 2019.
On a regional basis, Huawei's home market China led the growth, with revenues up 36.2 percent to CNY 506.7 billion. This was supported by the launch of 5G services in the country at the end of 2019, helping to offset pressure in other parts of the world after the loss of access to Google services for its devices. Xu said the US sanctions had a significant impact from May last year on its consumer business, which only started to bounce back from Q4.
In the rest of Asia, Huawei's revenues rose 13.9 percent to CNY 70.5 billion in 2019, and growth in Americas reached 9.6 percent to CNY 52.5 billion. In the EMEA region, annual sales growth slowed to just 0.7 percent to CNY 206 billion.
