China’s Huawei Technologies called on Washington to drop the “loser’s
attitude” and once again rubbished US allegations that its gear could
be used by Beijing for spying, as its network business weakens amid
mounting global scrutiny.
“The US government has a loser’s attitude. It wants to smear Huawei
because it cannot compete against Huawei,” Guo Ping, rotating chair of
the world’s top producer of telecoms equipment and number-three maker of
smartphones, said on Friday.
“I hope the US can
adjust its attitude,” Guo said at a press briefing
that was attended by more than 100 journalists from across the
world. The US embassy in China declined to comment.
Huawei reported a slower pace of profit growth for 2018 as
its network business saw its first drop in revenue in two years,
overshadowing a robust 45% jump in its smartphone unit.
Huawei’s outlook has come under a cloud over the past year with the
US voicing concerns that its equipment could be used for espionage.
Washington has also urged its allies to ban Huawei from building
next-generation 5G mobile networks.
The latest blow for the company came on Thursday when Britain rebuked
it for failing to fix long-standing security flaws in its mobile
network equipment and revealed new “significant technical issues”.
For 2018, the Shenzen-based firm reported a net profit of
59.3-billion yuan ($9bn), up 25% from a year ago, compared to a 28% rise
in 2017. Revenue from its carrier business fell 1.3% to 294-billion
yuan, which it blamed on telecommunications industry investment cycles.
However, the surge in its consumer business sales to a record
348.9-billion yuan, driven by demand for its premium smartphone models
such as the P series and Mate series, helped push global revenue to
above $100bn for the first time. Its total revenue rose nearly 20% to
about 721-billion yuan, marking the fastest pace of growth in two years.
The performance of the consumer business is in line with what Huawei
flagged in January, when it also said it could become the world’s
biggest-selling smartphone vendor this year. Guo said he expects all
three business groups — consumer, carrier and enterprise — to post
double-digit growth this year, although he did not provide a specific
number.
The company has previously said it is targeting total revenue of $125bn this year, a record high.
“Moving forward, we will do everything we can to shake off outside
distractions, improve management and make progress towards our strategic
goals,” Guo said. Huawei has “prepared some inventories for
uncertainties” that has reduced its net cash position, Guo added,
without giving any details.
Spying would be ‘suicide’
To fight global concerns over its gear, Huawei has launched an
unprecedented media blitz by opening up its campus to journalists and
parading its typically low-key founder, Ren Zhengfei, in front of media.
It has stepped up the campaign in recent months after Meng Wanzhou,
Huawei CFO and Ren’s daughter, was arrested in Canada in December at US
behest on charges of bank and wire fraud in violation of US sanctions
against Iran. She denies wrongdoing.
The company has said the spying concerns are unfounded. “Spying
would be equal to suicide,” said Song Liuping, Huawei’s chief legal
officer. “We have no intention of committing suicide.”
Huawei derived 48.4% of its business from overseas markets in 2018, compared to 49.5% a year earlier.
The company’s fastest-growing region was Europe, Middle East and
Africa with a growth of 24.3%, followed by Americas with a growth of
21.3%.
A top company executive said earlier this week that the US campaign
against Huawei is having little impact on its sales and that it is
unlikely many countries would heed the US call to ban its gear.
- Reuters
No comments:
Post a Comment