Huawei’s core network business returned to growth in the first half of 2022, benefitting from rising global 5G rollouts and slowing a decline in overall revenue which had dropped for seven consecutive quarters.

Rotating chairman Ken Hu (pictured) noted in a statement that while Huawei’s device business was heavily impacted, its ICT infrastructure group recorded steady growth.

Huawei’s Carrier Business Group revenue grew 4.2 per cent year-on-year to CNY142.7 billion ($21.2 billion) compared with a 14 per cent decline in H1 2021.

A Huawei representative told Mobile World Live H1 growth was in line with forecasts as it recorded stable development in 5G and other segments including optical and cloud core networks, and software.

“Both China and regions outside created momentum for business growth.”

The vendor had signed more than 5,000 commercial contracts for industrial 5G applications by end-June.

Huawei’s Device unit’s revenue dropped 25.4 per cent to CNY101.3 billion, while the Enterprise Group was the best performing unit, growing 27.5 per cent to CNY54.7 billion.

The representative added Huawei’s smartphone business was again hit by US trade sanctions, adding “2022 may prove to be the most challenging year in the history of our Device Business Group”.

H1 revenue fell 5.9 per cent to CNY301.6 billion, with its net profit margin down from 9.8 per cent to 5 per cent, in part due to increased investments in new business segments, technologies and software.