Huawei’s sales growth slowed significantly in the opening nine months, as the battered Chinese vendor shifted to survival mode following trade sanctions imposed by the US government.

In a brief statement, it said results “basically met expectations”, with revenue up 9.9 per cent year-on-year to CNY671.3 billion ($100.5 billion). This compared with annual growth of 24.4 per cent in the same period of 2019.

It did not reveal profit figures, but noted net profit margin stood at 8 per cent: in the comparable 2019 period this was 8.7 per cent.

The company doesn’t break down revenue by business group in its interim reports.

Huawei cited Covid-19 (coronavirus) as a factor, putting its global supply chain under “intense pressure” and causing “increasing difficulties” to production and operations.

“The company continues to do its best to find solutions, survive and forge forward”.

At Huawei Connect in late September, rotating chairman Guo Ping said continuous US attacks had raised “great challenges to our production and operations”, and “survival is the goal” in the near term.

The company yesterday (22 September) revealed its Mate 40 series of flagship smartphones, its second range released without Google’s Android platform as a result of the US restrictions.