Investing in the future, Huawei reports profits, R&D new high

Huawei released its 2021 Annual Report on March 28th, As per the report, Huawei achieved CNY636.8 billion in revenue in 2021, and CNY113.7 billion in net profits, an increase of 75.9% year-on-year. The company said overall the performance was in line with forecast.

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Meng Wanzhou, Huawei CFO stated, “Despite a revenue decline in 2021, our ability to make a profit and generate cash flows is increasing, and we are more capable of dealing with uncertainty.” Due to the enhanced profitability of its major businesses, the company’s cash flow from operating activities dramatically increased in 2021, amounting to CNY59.7 billion.

For business groups, in 2021, Huawei’s carrier business generated CNY281.5 billion in revenue. Third-party test results have found that 5G networks built by Huawei for customers in 13 countries, including Switzerland, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia, provide the best user experience.

Huawei’s enterprise business generating CNY102.4 billion in revenue during 2021. Huawei launched 11 scenario-based solutions for key sectors such as government, transportation, finance, energy, and manufacturing. The company also established multiple dedicated teams, including a Coal Mine Team, a Smart Road Team, and a Customs & Port Team, to combine resources in a way that more efficiently serves the needs of its customers. Over 700 cities and 267 Fortune Global 500 companies have chosen Huawei as their digital transformation partner and Huawei now works with more than 6,000 service and operation partners around the world.

Huawei’s consumer business generated CNY243.4 billion in revenue in 2021 and continued to see steady sales growth in smart wearables, smart screens, true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds. Huawei Rotating Chairman Guo Ping said solving the chip problem is a complicated and long process that requires patience. In the future, chip solution may adopt a multi-core structure to improve chip performance. 

Under Pressure, the company’s R&D expenditure hitting a new high, reached CNY142.7 billion in 2021, representing 22.4% of its total revenue, ranked NO. 2 of the EU industrial R&D investment scoreboard, 54.8% of Huawei staffs worked in R&D. As released on March 28th, its total R&D expenditure over the past 10 years to over CNY845 billion, Huawei said will continue to invest heavily in research and innovation. 

Jun Zhang, Director of Huawei Asia-Pacific Public Relations Department, said during an interview with Philippine medias, through US restrictions have had a huge impact on Huawei, but despite such severe restrictions, thanks to the trust of our customers, Huawei’s main business in ICT infrastructure has remained stable while new business segments like digital power and cloud grew rapidly and its ecosystem development efforts have entered the fast lane. In the context of accelerating digital transformation, there are strong market demands for innovative digital solutions and high-quality suppliers. Asia Pacific including the Philippines are ripe with opportunities for digital transformation, and the pandemic has accelerated it. As 5G rolls out at scale, connectivity, cloud, AI, computing, and industry applications have all come together to create unprecedented opportunities for the ICT sector. Huawei will keep driving digital innovation for an inclusive Asia Pacific and leave no one behind. 

For Huawei, investment not only went to R&D, but also cultivating ICT Talents.

Seeds for the Future is Huawei’s global CSR flagship program. Launched in 2008, the program seeks to develop local ICT talent, enhance knowledge transfer, help participants better understand the ICT sector and stimulate their interest in it, and promote and encourage participation in building a digital community.

According to Daniel Guo, the COO of Huawei Philippines, Seeds for the Future has been in the Philippines for 7 years, more than 200 students joined the program, some of them even became Huawei Staffs after graduated from universities. The program used to take two weeks in China and moved online during COVID, this year, the program might go hybrid as the situation is getting better.

Huawei ICT Academy, another non-profit program globally, serves as a bridge between companies and colleges, helping to build a talent ecosystem for the ICT industry. Huawei partnered with almost 60 Philippine universities and established ICT academies, over 9000 students joined the program. By the end of 2021, Huawei had presented over 550,000 certifications worldwide, including over 17,000 Huawei Certified ICT Expert (HCIE) certifications. Last year, Huawei also launched its HCIE 100 project in the country, engineers who pass the certifications will be a valuable resource for industry digitalization world.

In the Philippines, Huawei also worked together with five (5) of the top Universities for Huawei Scholarship program, which aimed to provide financial assistance to deserving students who are already in their 3rd to 5th year College Level. Huawei has sponsored 22 Scholars as of now.

Huawei Rotating Chairman Guo Ping said at the event that Huawei’s ability to “survive and thrive” depends on ongoing investment in development. “Our fight to survive is not over yet,” Guo said. “No matter what comes our way, we will keep investing. That is the only way forward.”