Huawei H1 2015 sales increased 30%

Meng Wanzhou, Huawei CFO

Huawei said that its sales increased by 30 per cent in the first half of 2015, with the company citing “stable and healthy growth” across its operating units.

First half sales stood at CNY175.9 billion ($28.33 billion), and, according to Financial Times, growth was at its strongest for more than five years. Operating margin was 18 per cent, compared with 18.3 per cent in the first half of 2014.

The company also said it is “confident that we will maintain effective growth and steady and healthy development in all business segments in 2015”.

In its carrier business, “investment continued to pour into 4G network construction in China”, Meng Wanzhou , CFO, said.

“In addition, the growth in global data traffic drives investment in network capacity expansion, while carriers’ digital transformation pushes up investment in the ICT industry,” she continued.

For its consumer business, the company claims its “high quality products that offer a superior experience” have been well received by customers, while it has also established and reinforced its brand image in the mid-range and high-end markets.

“Huawei’s mid-range and high-end smartphones, Mate7 and P8 in particular, as well as Honor-branded phones, have made solid progress, helping us guarantee quality and sustainable growth in the consumer business,” Meng said.

And in its enterprise business, “our innovative products and solutions have laid the foundation for building strong competitiveness and been widely recognised by customers, and we have started to experience accelerated growth,” the executive noted.

The company did not reveal profit numbers.

Tablets hurt PC sales

The hype surrounding the iPad and other tablets is starting to have an impact on purchases of personal computers as consumers struggle to decide which device to buy, the latest data suggest.

Sales of PCs grew much less than expected in the third quarter as consumers delayed buying while they considered whether to purchase a tablet instead, according to Gartner. The research firm said that global PC shipments grew 7.6 per cent to 88.3m units in the third quarter of this year, compared to a forecast rise of 12.7 per cent.

Gartner and IDC, another research group, said there was evidence that the hype around tablets was causing customers to take a “wait and see” approach to buying PCs. Also, continued economic volatility in the US and the threat of public spending cuts in western Europe was also affecting consumer confidence and spending patterns.

“Apple has raised the profile of the tablet,” said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. However, analysts said there was little evidence that tablets were directly cannibalising PC sales.

Compared to the hype around the iPad, PC vendors did not have any big releases to help market their products as they did with Windows 7 last year.

Vendors also suffered as retailers that overstocked in the netbook category at the beginning of the year held back from making further purchases to see if tablets would take off.

“Those buying tablets are early adopters who already own multiple devices,” said Mr Atwal. IDC said PC shipments rose 11 per cent to 89.7m, 3 percentage points below its expectations.

Bob O’Donnell, vice-president for clients and displays at IDC, said there was evidence of “consumer fatigue” for notebooks and netbooks. Consumers who previously bought PCs for their home and another secondary device, may now be looking to replace netbooks with tablets.

He said that, while the iPad had had some negative impact on the netbook market, “the halo effect” of the device also helped propel Mac sales and moved Apple into the number three position in the US market behind Hewlett-Packard and Dell.

IDC said there were signs of a pick-up in shipments in September, somethingIntel picked out in its earnings announcement this week.

According to both IDC and Gartner, HP maintained its lead in the global PC market at about 17.5 per cent. Acer jumped into the number two slot with Dell slipping to third.