SHENZHEN, China, Aug 29 (Reuters) – Chinese technology giant Huawei (HWT.UL) reported strong growth in revenue and net profit in the first half of the year on Thursday. Smartphone sales were robust and business with components for smart cars was also doing well despite U.S. sanctions.

Net profit rose 18% to 54.9 billion yuan ($7.7 billion) in the January-June period, while revenue rose 34.3% to 417.5 billion yuan. It was the company’s highest first-half revenue since the same period in 2020.

Huawei did not provide a breakdown of earnings for individual business units, but a spokesperson said the company’s mainstay, its consumer businesses, which include smartphones and PCs, and its smart vehicle components business had shown strong performances.

Data from research firm Canalys shows that Huawei shipped 22.2 million smartphones in mainland China in the first half of the year, an increase of 55% year-on-year.

Huawei re-entered the 5G premium smartphone market last year with its Mate 60 series and this year with its high-end P-series phones – but most of those sales remain limited to the home market.

The screen of the new Huawei Pura 70 series smartphone features the Harmony operating system as the series models go on sale at a Huawei flagship store in Beijing, China on April 18, 2024. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo Purchase License rightopens new tab

In China, the product launches were celebrated as a triumph over US sanctions that have denied the company access to advanced US chips and other technologies since 2019.

Washington considers Huawei a risk to national security – an accusation the company denies. The US sanctions have since been expanded and now include export bans on sophisticated US chips to all Chinese companies. Washington wants to use this to hinder technological progress for the Chinese military.

Over the past four years, Huawei has also seen remarkable growth in its Intelligent Automotive Solution division. Huawei aims to become a leading provider of software and components for intelligent electric vehicles and has already signed contracts with numerous automobile manufacturers.

Huawei’s information and communications technology infrastructure, cloud and digital power businesses showed stable performance, the spokesman said, adding that profits in the first half were not boosted by the sale of businesses or assets, as was the case in the same period last year.

(1 US dollar = 7.1165 Chinese yuan)

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