Huawei makes a fortune dispite US ban

28 percent rise in 2017

Mobile phone maker Huawei managed to make 28 percent more profit in 2017 despite some massive persecution by US politicians.

Huawei, which trails Samsung and Apple in smartphones, is clouded by stiff competition in the domestic market and declining sales in the United States, as Washington plans higher import tariffs on China’s tech products.

Huawei saw net profit for 2017 rising to $ 7.3 billion, a significant rebound from last year’s 0.4 percent increase. The rise is largely attributable to an 85 percent drop in net financing expenses as the company booked smaller foreign exchange losses.

Revenue grew 15.7 percent in line with the company’s previous guidance and its slowest growth in four years.

Huawei vowed to focus on improving profit after posting the slowest profit growth in five years in 2016 as its slim-margin smartphone business weighed down profit growth.

Huawei’s consumer business, which includes smartphone operations, grew at a slower 31.9 percent to $ 37.85 billion after shipping 153 million smartphones last year. The year earlier the segment had increased 43.6 percent.

Huawei this week launched its most expensive flagship smartphone to date in Europe – the triple-camera P20 series that sell for 649-899 euros – a fresh attempt to compete head-to-head with Samsung and Apple in the high-end phone market.

Market share gains in Europe have helped Huawei offset the company’s exclusion from the U.S., the world’s most profitable market for phone sellers. Revenue from the Americas dropped 11 percent.