Huawei vows to keep investing in diversification

The Chairman of embattled Chinese vendor Huawei has published his New Year message, in which he stressed a strategy of searching for new business areas.

Huawei has greater incentives to diversify than most companies, having had a significant chunk of its business taken away from it by US sanctions. Stated annual revenues for 2021 of 634 billion yuan (~$100b) represent a 29% fall. No breakdown of that figure was offered, but previous announcements indicate pretty much all of that decline comes from the consumer division.

“This past year, our carrier business remained stable, our enterprise business experienced solid growth, and our device business expanded swiftly into new business domains,” wrote Rotating Chairman Guo Ping in his message, displaying the customary gloss of such missives. Again, apart from referring to ‘a device ecosystem centered on HarmonyOS’, details of this swift expansion were thin on the ground.

The message became slightly confused when Guo said “We need to focus on our core business and move away from the periphery, ensuring strategic investment to maintain our long-term competitiveness,” before going on to reiterate a desire to diversify. “Cutting costs won’t pave the way to sustainable survival,” he continued. “Only through strategic investment can we grow stronger and build a future for ourselves.”

Other than that, there was the usual corporate stuff about how Huawei wants to make the world a better place, etc. There was only the most veiled reference to America’s ongoing campaign to drive it out of business, but the company’s continued defiance is clear. The road we’re on is bumpy, but rewarding,” concluded Guo. “With no way back, success is our only way forward.”