US revokes export licences to Huawei as telco bounces back

In April, Huawei saw a massive growth of nearly 70pc in smartphone sales in the Chinese market, while Apple sales fell by 19pc.

The US has been revoking export licences to prevent companies from shipping goods to Huawei this year amid an ongoing trade war between the US and China.

Huawei, a global telecoms giant headquartered in Shenzhen, China, has been seeing a huge growth in its sales and profits since last year as the company bounced back after years of underwhelming earnings.

But the US has revoked eight licences to ship goods to Huawei, according to documents seen by Reuters, as it seeks to put additional pressure on the company on the grounds of national security.

In 2019, the Chinese company was hit with US restrictions while being accused of being a national security risk – a stance that has persisted.

However, the company has undergone a resurrection of sorts after launching its Mate 60 smartphone in the market – creeping into some of Apple’s market share.

In April, Huawei saw a massive growth of nearly 70pc in smartphone sales in the Chinese market compared to the same period in 2023. Apple sales fell by 19pc in the same period.

Ken Hu, rotating chair at Huawei, said after its earnings call in March that Huawei’s performance last year was in line with forecasts.

“We’ve been through a lot over the past few years,” he said at the time. “But through one challenge after another, we’ve managed to grow. The trust and support of our customers, partners and friends around the world is what helped us keep going, keep surviving and keep growing.”

Intel and Qualcomm are among the companies who have had licences revoked by the US government, according to a previous Financial Times report.

Huawei is known for its propensity to spend a huge chunk of its revenue on research and development as the company looks to be a major player in emerging areas of tech such as advanced 5G. It invested 164.7bn yuan into R&D last year – nearly a quarter of its revenue.

Last October, Huawei appointed Calvin Lan to become the new head of its Irish operations, replacing Tony Yangxu, who held the position of Ireland CEO for more than three years.

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