Chinese smartphone vendor Huawei has reported the slowest growth in company’s revenue since 2013, according to Huawei rotating CEO Ken Hu who expects a revenue growth of 15% to CNY600 billion ($91.2 billion) for 2017 compared to 32% in 2016.
The vendor’s carrier and enterprise business remained “healthy” in 2017 in light of all talks and efforts aiming to achieve digital transformation, noting that the company sealed deals with 197 companies in the Fortune Global 500. “Our enterprise business is brimming with potential, and will soon burst forth with tremendous vitality,” stated Hu.
Smartphone shipments reached 153 million units in 2017 registering an increase of 10% year-on-year with a global market share of also 10%. The consumer division’s revenue is expected to increase 30% year-on-year in 2017 to CNY236 billion registering also the slowest growth since 2013.
In an optimistic New Year message, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s consumer business group said, ““In 2018, we will continue to release disruptive products and innovative technology to lead the global market. I believe that 2018 will be the first year we set foot on the path to true global prominence.”
He highlighted the success of the vendor’s Mate 10 smartphone launched in October. It is Huawei’s most expensive smartphone to date and is equipped with AI-enhanced chips. “We can barely keep up with demand”, said Richard Yu while talking about the company’s bestseller.
As for Huawei’s Honor brand strategy, he added, “Honor will strive to deliver stylish new gadgets that young people love… the Huawei brand will strive to obtain a larger share in the high-end market, serve a wider audience”.
On the other hand, Huawei’s Ken Hu declared that resource utilization and the number of cloud users have tripled since the launch of the company’s Cloud Business Unit allowing it to offer 97 different cloud services across 14 major categories and to establish over 1000 strategic partnerships around the world.
In addition, Hu outlined Huawei’s objectives for 2018, the year the company turns 30 years old, for its business areas. “Our Carrier BG needs to keep ahead of industry growth, improve contract quality, and actively seek out new growth opportunities. Our Enterprise BG needs to keep growing at a faster pace and become one of our core business pillars within five years’ time. Our Consumer BG needs to reinforce its foundations, maintain positive growth momentum, and keep on improving profitability. Our public cloud business needs to invest according to plan, improve the competitiveness of its products, and concentrate on scaling out.”
However, the vendor’s main goal remains to dominate the network vendor market and uphold its consumer brand worldwide. “As a global player, we need to be patient and persistent, demonstrating our value and contribution one quiet step at a time. We need to earn trust, continue to improve, and cultivate a receptive business environment that can support business development on a whole new level: not just 100 billion dollars, but revenues of hundreds of billions of dollars and beyond,” said Hu.