Guo Ping: Huawei more dedicated and innovative than ever  

Huawei released its 2021 Annual Report, revealing that the company had maintained solid operations throughout the past year. As per the report, Huawei achieved USD 99.9 billion in revenue in 2021, and USD 17.8 billion in net profits, an increase of 75.9% year-on-year.

Guo Ping, Huawei’s Rotating Chairman, stated at the press conference, “Overall, our performance was in line with forecast. Our carrier business remained stable, our enterprise business experienced steady growth, and our consumer business quickly expanded into new domains. In addition, we embarked on a fast track of ecosystem development.”

In his message, Guo Ping stated that Huawei is more dedicated and innovative than ever. He added, “While many have been watching to see whether Huawei might fall, we’ve maintained focus on creating value for our customers and working together with our ecosystem partners to foster shared success. We have kept plugging away, improving the quality of our operations and investing in the future.”

Karl Song, VP of Global Communications, Huawei, also reiterated, “Huawei expects to continue facing a severe and complex external environment in the coming years, but we are still confident in our future development. We can see how digital and intelligent technologies have become key drivers of socio-economic development. They are triggering a new round of revolution in industries around the world, and creating new opportunities that have never been seen before in the ICT industry.”

The company spent approximately USD 22.38 billion in 2021, representing 22.4% of its total revenue. In the past decade, the tech giant’s total R&D expenditure exceeds USD 132.5 billion. Moving forward, the company also plans to continuously increase investment in R&D.

It is worth noting that Huawei has one of the largest patent portfolios in the world. By the end of 2021, Huawei held more than 110,000 active patents, across over 45,000 families. In terms of the number of patents granted in 2021, Huawei ranked No. 1 at both the China National Intellectual Property Administration and the European Patent Office, and No. 5 at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The company ranked second in the 2021 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard. Huawei currently employs roughly 107,000 R&D employees, representing about 54.8% of our total workforce.

Speaking at the company’s global press conference, Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s CFO, said, “Despite a revenue decline in 2021, our ability to make a profit and generate cash flows is increasing, and we are more capable of dealing with uncertainty.” Thanks to the enhanced profitability of its major businesses, the company’s cash flow from operating activities dramatically increased in 2021, amounting to USD 9.3 billion. Its liability ratio also dropped to 57.8%, and its overall financial structure has become more resilient and flexible.

In 2021, Huawei’s carrier business generated USD44.1 billion in revenue and helped carriers around the world deploy leading 5G networks. Third-party test results have found that 5G networks built by Huawei for customers in 13 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, and South Korea, provide the best user experience.

Thanks to continuing digital transformation trends, Huawei’s enterprise business also grew rapidly, generating USD 16.06 billion in revenue in 2021. In the past year, Huawei launched 11 scenario-based solutions for key sectors such as government, transportation, finance, energy, and manufacturing. Over 700 cities and 267 Fortune Global 500 companies have chosen Huawei as their digital transformation partner and Huawei now works with more than 6,000 service and operation partners around the world.

Huawei’s consumer business zeroed in on consumer wants and needs, further building out the global ecosystem for a smart, all-connected era, as part of the company’s Seamless AI Life strategy for consumers around the world. This business generated USD 38.17 billion in revenue in 2021 and continued to see steady sales growth in smart wearables, smart screens, true wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds, and Huawei Mobile Services (HMS).

Guo concluded, “Moving forward, Huawei will advance its journey of digitalization, intelligent transformation, and low carbon. Relying on talent, scientific research, and an innovative spirit, we will continuously increase investment to reshape our paradigms for fundamental theories, architecture, and software, and build our long-term competitiveness.”