Chinese telecom giant Huawei said on Friday that its revenue has dipped by a third in the first three quarters of the year, as it continues to struggle to deal with the repercussions of the sanctions imposed on it by the USA.
Huawei has been caught in the crossfire of a US-China trade and technology rivalry after the government of former president Donald Trump moved to cripple the company on concerns that it poses a cybersecurity and espionage threat.
Huawei’s sales between January-September of 2021 fell 32% to 455.8 billion Yuan or $71.3 billion, as per a statement from the company.
Unlisted Huawei provided few specifics and did not include a breakdown of its performance by business segment.
But its statement quoted rotating Chairman Guo Ping as saying its business-to-consumer segment, consisting largely of smartphones and other devices had been ‘significantly impacted’ in the period.
He added, however, that the telecom carrier segment had “remained stable” and the company was “confident (that) we will continue to create practical value for our customers.”
The United States has provided no evidence to back its cybersecurity claims up, but they have barred Huawei from acquiring crucial components such as microchips and cut it off from using Google’s Android OS.
Huawei’s revenue had already fallen in 2020 due to the offloading of its budget phone brand Honor, which was sold late last year to help the brand maintain access to components and scramble for survival.
Huawei is the world’s largest supplier of telecom network gear and was once a top-three smartphone producer along with Apple and Samsung. But it has slipped through the ranks due to the US pressure.
Huawei launched its own mobile operating system in June in a desperate attempt to keep its smartphone business-relevant, but tech analysts believe it will struggle to stay in a fight dominated by Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS.
Huawei networking gear has also been removed or barred in a succession of countries on national security concerns.
The current US administration of Joe Biden has indicated no signs of relaxation in the pressure on Huawei.
One distraction for Huawei was removed last month, however, with the return to China of Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou.
Meng, the 49-year-old daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, spent nearly three years under house arrest in Canada on a US extradition warrant.
Washington had accused her of defrauding HSBC Bank by attempting to hide alleged violations of US Sanctions on Iran committed by Huawei affiliate Skycom, a case that China and Huawei have said was motivated more by US Business concerns.
But Meng was released a month ago after US prosecutors announced an agreement under which fraud charges were to be suspended and eventually dropped. After a mandatory quarantine period, she returned to work at Huawei’s headquarters in the Southern City of Shenzhen earlier this week, Chinese media reported.
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