Dan Meyer | Executive Editor
April 3, 2024 9:00 AM

Huawei showed considerable momentum in 2023, with the telecommunications giant posting a nearly 10% increase in full-year revenues and less talk of geopolitical struggles that have hampered opportunities in many Western countries.

The China-based vendor reported $97.4 billion in revenues for 2023, which was in line with internal expectations. That growth was also a robust improvement over the 1% full-year increase Huawei posted for 2022.

More significantly, Huawei’s net profits surged nearly 150% from $4.9 billion in 2022, to $12 billion in 2023.

That surge stood in stark contrast to rivals Nokia and Ericsson, which both posted a drop in revenues and net income for 2023 compared to the previous year.

Dell’Oro Group backed that assessment, noting in a recent report that Huawei grew its share of the global telecommunications market from 28% in 2022 to 30% last year. This despite ongoing pressure from Western governments forbidding the use of equipment from China-based vendors due to security concerns.

“In fact, our assessment is that Huawei’s lead widened in 2023, in part because its limited exposure to the North America region was a benefit in 2023 on a relative basis,” Dell’Oro Group VP Stefan Pongratz wrote.

Huawei’s management lauded its latest growth in the face of those market challenges.

“We’ve been through a lot over the past few years,” Ken Hu, rotating chairman at Huawei over the past six months noted in a statement. “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.”

That sentiment also stood in stark contrast to Huawei management’s tone toward 2022, when the vendor was operating under what it termed “crisis mode.”

Huawei’s strong 2023 also stood in stark contrast to its closest telecom vendor rivals Ericsson and Nokia, which both struggled through the year. The Dell’Oro Group report found Nokia maintained its 15% market share while Ericsson’s share dipped to just 13% in 2023.

Huawei looking ahead with a new-old CEO

While Huawei is coming off of a strong year of growth, it could be challenged to match that momentum in 2024. Hu hinted as much when stating that “a new journey awaits us in 2024.”

Huawei remains persona non-grata in most Western countries, though it is still welcome in many markets that are just now starting to build out their 5G equipment infrastructure. This could help the vendor counter an expected rough 2024.

Dell’Oro Group, for instance, is predicting market conditions to “remain challenging in 2024,” with worldwide telecom capex forecast to drop at a mid-single-digit rate, and at a negative 2% to 3% CAGR by 2026. However, Pongratz did note Huawei was able to withstand a challenging overall market last year “because its limited exposure to the North America region was a benefit in 2023 on a relative basis.”

Huawei will spend the next six months of that battle with a new leader as Hu is being replaced in the vendor’s rotating chairman program by Eric Xu.

Huawei currently uses a three-person rotating chairman model with each person holding the position for a six-month period. That rotation is currently shared between Hu, Xu and Sabrina Meng, who is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei and has been a central figure in Huawei’s ongoing battle with the United States.