Attendees visit the Huawei booth at the 2023 World Mobile Congress on June 28, 2023, in Shanghai. Photo: VCG

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies reported a slight rise in first half revenue compared with the same period last year, but its net profit more than doubled, and market insiders said this represents a turning point for the company amid the ongoing US tech crackdown.

The company said that it generated revenue of 308.29 billion yuan ($42.33 billion), up 3.2 percent year-on-year. Its net profit reached 46.523 billion yuan, surging by 218 percent year-on-year, according to the company's half year report released on Wednesday.

It shows that the company is on an upward trend after it suffered losses for years, and this can be seen as a crucial turning point, Ma Jihua, a Beijing-based senior industry analyst, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Ma attributed the results to a significant push in research and development (R&D) spending, which reached 82.604 billion yuan, an increase of 4.4 percent year-on-year, the report said.

In comparison, it reported a net profit of 35.6 billion yuan for 2022, a slump of 69 percent year-on-year, while revenue inched upward by 0.9 percent to 642.3 billion yuan, a result company executives said was in line with expectations.

Huawei on Tuesday unexpectedly announced the opening of preorders for its high-end Mate 60 smartphone series, which runs on the firm's latest Harmony 4.0 operating system and can access its self-developed Pangu artificial intelligence model.

Most importantly, some have speculated that it's equipped with a domestically made 5G chip, one close follower of Huawei who has already received and tested the new Mate 60 Pro told the Global Times on Wednesday. However, Huawei didn't release any specific details of the Mate 60 chip.

"If the Mate 60 series is equipped with a full package of 5G parts, it means the technology crackdown launched by the US has failed," said Ma.

The US government has shown its eagerness to ruin Huawei by cutting off it from American supplies of tech components.

Washington barred Huawei from buying advanced 5G chips and software from US companies in 2019, which dealt a heavy blow to its high-end smartphone businesses and left it able only to launch limited batches of 5G models using stockpiled chips.

The new Huawei Mate 60 Pro, which has been priced at 6,999 yuan, sold out within an hour on Tuesday, according to the Shanghai Securities News.

Ma noted that after several years of sliding revenue in the smartphone business due to the US crackdown, Huawei's latest products can still generate market interest, with consumers supporting its struggling spirit.

Coincidentally, the Mate 60 series launch came amid the visit to China by US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, with the US currently considering new sanctions on Chinese high-tech industries. Some netizens said that the debut is the "best souvenir" for Raimondo, and it's a reminder to the US when it attempts to use tech restrictions as a "bargaining chip."

Global Times