Huawei chairman says the ‘aim is to survive’ as revenue slides 29%

The chairman of Huawei said the Chinese technology company’s “aim is to survive” as revenue fell almost 30% in the first half of the year.

The Shenzhen-headquartered company, which was put on the U.S. trade blacklist in 2019, announced Friday that it generated 320.4 billion yuan ($49.6 billion) in revenue in the first half of 2021. It’s a significant fall from the 454 billion yuan that Huawei recorded in the first half of 2020.

Huawei said it recorded a 9.8% profit margin, which is its highest since 2019, and added that the overall performance was in line with forecasts.

Eric Xu, Huawei’s rotating chairman, said in a statement that the company had set its strategic goals for the next five years.

“Our aim is to survive, and to do so sustainably,” he said.

Huawei’s business is split into three subdivisions: carrier, enterprise and consumer.

The company said its carrier business, which sells 5G and other telecommunications infrastructure, grew steadily outside China in the first half of the year. However, in China, which is its largest market by far, it was affected by delays in the 5G network rollout.