Huawei expects 2022 revenues to remain flat year-on-year

Huawei also expects to keep R&D investment at a high level in 2023

Chinese vendor Huawei Technologies estimated that its 2022 revenues remained flat compared to the previous year, despite continued sanctions by the U.S. government.

“U.S. restrictions are now our new normal, and we’re back to business as usual,” Huawei’s rotating chairman Eric Xu said in a message to employees and media.

Xu said that the vendor’s overall revenue for 2022 is expected to be in line with its forecast, reaching CNY636.9 billion ($92.6 billion) compared to CNY636.8 billion in 2021.

The executive also highlighted the rapid growth in the company’s cloud division, adding that the cloud needs to become the foundation and enabler of digital transformation for both Huawei and vertical industries.

Xu also noted that while the macro environment is “rife with uncertainty”, Huawei believes that digitalization and decarbonization are the way forward and where future opportunities lie.

“2023 will be the first year that we return to business as usual with external restrictions still in place. It will be a crucial year for us, so we need to actively drive progress, keep inspiring passion across the organization, and further hone our capabilities. We need to be proactive about improving the business environment and more effectively managing risks. This is the only way we can reach our business goals for 2023 and lay a solid foundation for Huawei’s continued survival and development,” Xu said.

The company also expects to keep R&D investment at a high level in 2023. R&D expenditure in the first three quarters of 2022 reached CNY110 billion, or 24.7% of total revenue, up from 22% the previous year.

“We need to make our products and solutions more competitive through innovation, reshaping architecture, and systems engineering design. We have to fully commit ourselves to future-oriented basic research and open innovation, and focus our limited resources on value-creating domains. In addition, we need to uphold open collaboration across the value chain to guarantee our supply continuity and resilience,” Xu added.

In November last year, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced new rules that prohibit communications and video surveillance equipment made by Chinese companies including Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision and Dahua from being authorized for import and use by U.S. buyers.

The equipment and vendors in question were already prohibited from being used or purchased with federal funds, as well as being on a list of risky equipment maintained by the FCC that is deemed to pose “an unacceptable risk to national security.”