Carphone Warehouses loses O2 after failing to agree new terms
O2’s tariffs will no longer be on offer to Carphone Warehouse customers
Paul Lipscombe
April 1, 2020
The vendor shipped 240 million smartphones during 2019, ranking second for market share
Huawei has announced global sales revenue grew 19.1 per cent last year, with revenue hitting £97.87 billion.
This was despite facing a difficult year that saw the company banned from using Google services.
For much of 2019 the manufacturer was caught up in the US-China trade war, amid allegations of being perceived to be a “threat to national security”, by the US Administration.
However despite this, Huawei was able to also grow its net profit grew to £7.15 billion during 2019, with cash-flow from operating activities reaching £10.4 billion, representing year-on-year (YoY) growth of 22.4 per cent.
Huawei also revealed that it invested 15.3 per cent of its revenue last year into its R&D, representing £15 billion.
Over the last decade, Huawei has invested £68.4 billion in its research and development.
Huawei rotating chairman Eric Xu said: “2019 was an extraordinary year for Huawei. Despite enormous outside pressure, our team forged ahead with a singular focus on creating value for our customers.
“We worked hard to earn their respect and trust, as well as that of our partners around the globe. Business remains solid.”
Strong smartphone sales
Other highlights for Huawei last year included the shipping of 240 million smartphones worldwide, a number that was only bettered by Samsung.
This contributed to Huawei’s consumer business growing 34 per cent YoY to £53.25 billion.
Huawei’s carrier business also grew 3.8 per cent YoY, as 5G began to be widely deployed. This area of the business was worth £33.8 billion during 2019, with Huawei’s solutions available in over 50 countries.
However Xu does warn that the current challenging market conditions will make things “complicated”.
“The external environment will only get more complicated going forward. We need to keep enhancing the competitiveness of our products and services, promoting open innovation, and creating greater value for our customers and society at large.
“This is the only way we can seize the historic opportunities presented by the digital and intelligent transformation of industries, and maintain robust growth in the long run.”