The daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei has been a key player in the company’s tussle with the United States, having been detained in Canada in 2018 over alleged attempts by Huawei-linked companies to sell equipment to Iran in breach of US sanctions.
The US then imposed a series of trade restrictions on the company throughout 2019 and 2020, citing national security concerns. This impeded Huawei’s ability to design its own chips and to source components from outside vendors, hobbling its smartphone businesses.
Meng was allowed to return to China in September after an agreement was struck with US prosecutors.
“Over the past few years our teams have undertaken a lot of pressure, and along this process we have become more united and our strategy has become clearer,” she told reporters, adding that Huawei had become more capable of dealing with uncertainty.
Asked what she had been doing since she returned to work six months ago, Meng said the world had changed so much. “I’ve been learning and trying to catch up,” she said.
Washington’s sanctions have continued to weigh heavily on Huawei’s business, however.
Full-year revenue tumbled 29 percent last year to 636.8 billion yuan. Net profit jumped by a record 76 percent to 113.7 billion yuan, but that was largely thanks to the sale of Huawei’s Honor handset division and server businesses.
Meng attributed the revenue drop to the impact of US sanctions on the smartphone business, adding that the Covid-19 pandemic, supply chain issues and slowing demand for 5G base stations in China were also contributing factors.
Guo Ping, Huawei’s current rotating chairman, said the company hopes to find a solution to sustain its smartphone division and will ramp up investment in research seeking microchip “breakthroughs” after losing access to certain advanced technologies because of US sanctions.
Guo did not directly answer repeated questions on whether Huawei planned to build its own chip manufacturing facility, but highlighted artificial intelligence (AI), Wifi6 connectivity, green energy, automotive and cloud computing as key areas for R&D and new business opportunities.
Asked if Huawei would be affected by US sanctions against Russia, Guo said the company was evaluating related policies, adding that it has no plans to take its mobile operating system Harmony OS overseas. (Reuters)