Huawei Reports Stabilized Annual Revenue, Declares End of 'Crisis Mode'

Huawei Technologies Co. said it has exited "crisis mode" following punishing U.S. restrictions, as it reported growth in its telecom-infrastructure business and flat overall revenue for 2022. The company's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, said Huawei is now focused on "rebuilding trust" with its partners and customers.

"We're back to business as usual," said Eric Xu, Huawei's chairman, in a New Year's message to employees. "U.S. restrictions are now our new normal."

Mr. Xu said that Huawei expects to end the year with annual revenue of 636.9 billion yuan, or about $91.5 billion. This is essentially unchanged from a year earlier.

Mr. Xu said that Huawei's core business of selling telecom infrastructure grew in 2022, and that the decline in the company's once-dominant consumer device business has stabilized. The privately held Chinese company didn't release annual profit figures or provide a complete breakdown of its business lines.

The latest results show that Huawei has managed to stabilize its business after a series of Trump-era sanctions cut it off from advanced chips, briefly crushing its smartphone business—which was once the largest in the world.

The United States has also urged allies not to use Huawei's 5G telecom equipment, claiming it poses a national security threat. Huawei has denied these claims. In recent years, the company has sought to diversify its business by investing in areas such as software, cloud computing, and automotive technology. It has also invested in various companies across China's semiconductor industry in an effort to become more independent of foreign supply chains.

Even so, annual sales are still well below the 2020 peak of more than $120 billion, indicating that the new ventures are far from making up for its recent business losses.

Before the U.S. imposed sanctions, the Chinese technology champion routinely reported double-digit annual revenue growth. The company's smartphones competed with those of market leaders like Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. and made steady inroads into Western telecom markets.

According to recent financial disclosures, the company's revenue growth began to pick up this year. Fourth-quarter revenue was up 5.5% from a year earlier, to 191.1 billion yuan, following third-quarter growth of 6.5%.

Mr. Xu said that 2023 would be a crucial year for the company, and that their priorities would include keeping research and development investments high, maintaining quality despite U.S. restrictions, and finding new opportunities in the telecom equipment market.