The world may be experiencing downturn in some sectors, but Huawei, the world’s leading information and communications technology solutions provider, has cheery news for its shareholders and the global business community: the company reported a 32 per cent increase in its sales for 2016 over 2015.
In the Huawei 2016 Annual Report just released at its global headquarters in Shenzhen, China, on March 31, 2017, the company described the outcome of its performance for the year under reference as “solid growth and sustained investment in the future.”
In the audited financial results for 2016, Huawei reported that its Carrier, Enterprise, and Consumer business groups (BGs) each achieved solid year-on-year growth with Group annual revenue standing at CNY521.6 billion (US$75.1 billion), an increase of 32 per cent over 2015.
According to the figures released, net profits were put at CNY37.1 billion (US$5.3 billion), an increase of 0.4 per cent.
However, the company continued to invest “in the future,” with its annual spending on research and development reaching CNY76.4 billion (US$11 billion), Huawei reported.
Huawei’s Rotating CEO – up to the time of reporting the results – Eric Xu, remarked:
“In 2016, Huawei maintained its strategic focus and achieved solid growth. As humanity continues to explore and make new breakthroughs in the digital world, digitization and increasing intelligence present huge business opportunities for all industries, and are also paving the road for new growth for the ICT industry. We will stay customer-centric and will support digital transformation in all industries, in order to create value for our customers and to grow sustainably.”
In 2016, Huawei’s Carrier BG generated CNY290.6 billion (US$41.8 billion) in revenue, an increase of 24 per cent year-on-year. This was achieved by focusing on digital transformation and leveraging major opportunities in cloud, video, the Internet of Things, and operations transformation for carrier customers.
Working in close collaboration with its partners, Huawei’s Enterprise BG delivered ICT infrastructure to support the digital transformation of key vertical industries, including finance, energy, government bodies, and public safety. This business generated CNY40.7 billion (US$5.9 billion) in annual revenue, an increase of 47 per cent.
Thanks to its increasingly innovative products and growing global recognition as a premium device brand, Huawei’s Consumer BG shipped 139 million smartphones during 2016, and reported CNY179.8 billion (US$25.9 billion) in annual revenue, up 44 per cent.
Sabrina Meng, Huawei’s CFO, noted: “Huawei was operationally healthy in 2016, with ample cash reserves, a solid and sustainable capital structure, and high resilience against risk. In 2017, we will continue to boost the efficiency and quality of our operations to ensure solid growth.”
Huawei’s financial statements in the 2016 Annual Report were reportedly audited independently by KPMG.
Guo Ping Takes Over as Rotating CEO, April 1.
Meanwhile, Huawei has announced that Mr. Guo Ping assumes the position of Rotating CEO of the company effective April 1, 2017.
Mr. Guo will be the Rotating and Acting CEO of Huawei until September 30th 2017, according to Huawei’s Rotating CEO system.
The Rotating and Acting CEO acts as the primary person of the company’s operations and crisis management during his tenure, and is responsible for convening and chairing the meetings of Board of Directors’ Executive Committee and the company’s Executive Management Team.
Born in 1966, Mr. Guo holds a master’s degree from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Mr. Guo joined Huawei in 1988 and has served as an R&D project manager, General Manager of Supply Chain, Director of Huawei Executive Office, Chief Legal Officer, President of the Business Process & IT Management Department, President of the Corporate Development Department, Chairman and President of Huawei Device, Deputy Chairman of the Board, Rotating CEO, and Chairman of the Finance Committee.