Huawei posted a 40 per cent rise in first-half revenue as upgraded smartphones and network gear helped China’s largest vendor of telecommunications equipment counter slowing global demand.
But while revenue surged, picking up from 30 per cent growth in the same period last year, Huawei’s operating margin shrank from 18 per cent to 12 per cent, the privately owned company said yesterday.
Some analysts said its switch to smartphones may be weighing on profits. Leping Huang, technology an analyst at Nomura, said the lower margins could be attributed to an increasing mix of smartphones in Huawei’s sales. “Typically, [the] smartphone business has much lower margins than telecom equipment,” he said.