Huawei expects reduced revenue hit of €9bn from Trump trade sanctions

By Gao Yuan

Huawei Technologies expect less damage from Trump-administration curbs than initially anticipated, but remain on the lookout for ways to replace key American suppliers.

China’s largest technology company is now projecting that US export restrictions will reduce annual revenue at its consumer devices business by about $10bn (€9bn), deputy chairman, Eric Xu, said. But the overall damage to the company will be a “little less” than billionaire founder, Ren Zhengfei’s initial estimate of $30bn of sales over two years, Mr Xu said.

Since May, Huawei has occupied the uncomfortable position of being both an established global brand and a member of the US Entity List, which bars it from trading freely with American suppliers.

Despite a series of 90-day reprieves, the latest of which came this week, the uncertainty caused by American sanctions has already cost the company a great deal. Even if Huawei is eventually brought in from the cold, the impact of this summer’s upheaval will be widespread and painful.

Huawei is still keen on developing alternatives, in response to sanctions on the American technology it needs to make its gear, Mr Xu said. It has introduced its most powerful artificial intelligence chipset, the Ascend 910, which is poised to rival some of the best offerings from Qualcomm. Earlier this month, it offered the first glimpse of an in-house software — HarmonyOS — that may someday replace Google’s Android.

The company is also researching ways to replace chip-design software tools offered by Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys, Mr Xu said.

Bloomberg