American pressure “has galvanized our people
and reinvigorated the company,” Liang said.
“We believe we will get through the difficulties
and challenges in the short term and enter into
a new period of growth,” he said.
Washington says Huawei is a security risk, an
accusation the company denies. American
officials also see Huawei as a competitive threat
and a recipient of official Chinese support for
technology development they say is based on
improper subsidies and stealing or pressuring
foreign companies to hand over know-how.
Sales in the six months through June rose 23.2%
over a year earlier to 401.3 billion yuan ($58.3
billion), according to Liang. That was up from
2018’s full-year growth rate of 19.5%, but Liang
warned Huawei will “face difficulties” in the
second half.
Smartphone shipments rose 24% from a year
ago to 118 million handsets, he said.
Liang declined to give a forecast of second-half
sales, but said, “I am very confident in our full-
year growth.”
At the start of his presentation, a photo of
a fighter plane in flight despite being hit by
gunfire was projected onto a screen beside
Liang. He said, “like this airplane riddled with
bullet holes, we stayed the course.”
Huawei’s resilience reflects its financial and
technological strength compared with its
smaller Chinese rival, ZTE Corp., which was
nearly driven into bankruptcy last year by a ban
on access to U.S. technology over its sales to
Iran and North Korea. President Donald Trump
restored access after ZTE paid a $1 billion fine
and replaced its executive team.