Tech war: Huawei's first-quarter revenue stagnates as tech giant struggles to counter US sanctions

Huawei generated 132.1 billion yuan (US$20 billion) in sales for the first quarter, a marginal rise of 0.8 per cent from the 131 billion yuan in the same period last year, according to the company on Friday. The marginal growth in first quarter revenue was in line with Huawei’s 2022 performance when its whole-year revenue increased 0.9 per cent to 642.3 billion yuan.

While the Shenzhen-based company remains private, it has voluntarily disclosed key financial data on a regular basis, allowing the outside world to judge its financial and business health.

After US sanctions dealt a heavy blow to its bottom line by cutting the company off from advanced US chips and equipment, Huawei has struggled to maintain strong business growth. Its net profit margin in the first quarter narrowed 2 percentage points from a year ago, standing at 2.3 per cent for the first quarter. Huawei said it boosted investment into research and development in the period.

Huawei’s profit fell nearly 70 per cent for the full year of 2022.

“As a company, we have no capability to change the geopolitics or the environment, we can only adapt to that environment,” chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou said at the company’s annual report press conference last month.