Huawei sales revenue up 24%

The company is now the world's second-largest equipment provider

BEIJING - China's Huawei Technologies Co said its sales revenue for 2010 reached $28 billion, a year-on-year increase of 24 percent.

According to that data, the company has now become the world's second-largest provider of telecommunication equipment and related services, following in the wake of Europe's Ericsson.

A spokeswoman for Huawei confirmed on Monday that the data is based on the company's unaudited financial statements for 2010 from an internal publication, and said that an official statement will be released in March.

As China's largest telecommunications equipment provider by market share, Huawei shipped 120 million terminals worldwide in 2010, with sales revenue from terminal products exceeding $4.5 billion and accounting for 16 percent of total revenue.

According to company insiders, Huawei's domestic revenue was about $10 billion last year, a slight decline from the previous year as revenue from the Indian market decreased. Growth in other areas was responsible for the increase in revenue.

The company's success comes from the support of telecommunication carriers worldwide. Huawei not only cooperates with China's three carriers (China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom), but is also involved in partnerships with overseas carriers, such as Vodafone, T-Mobile, BT and Telefonica. According to the company, it cooperates with more than 45 of the world's 50 largest carriers.

Huawei opened its Canadian headquarters in Markham, Ontario on Jan 19. The new 4,274 square meter facility houses the sales and marketing divisions, and a testing facility.

"The establishment of our headquarters in Markham underscores our long-term investment in the Canadian market, and on a broader scale signifies Huawei's continued growth in North America," said Charles Ding, president of Huawei North America.

About 75 percent of sales revenue for Huawei's terminal products came from overseas in 2010. According to the company, North America is an important market since it is the most crucial third-generation smartphone market. The company achieved 3 billion yuan ($454 million) in sales revenue in North America last year.

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In order to adapt to the global market, Huawei's handset operating system uses Google Inc's Android system. According to the research company International Data Corporation, the Chinese company has become the fourth-largest handset maker globally. Huawei said North America will become its most important market in the future, and the company aims to double sales revenue and shipments within three years.

On Jan 25, Huawei sued Motorola and Nokia Siemens Networks to protect its intellectual property rights, the company said in a news release.

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, marks the first time Huawei has sued a US company. Huawei said the suit seeks to stop the planned $1.2 billion sale of Motorola's network business to Nokia Siemens as the deal may leak proprietary information, which was provided by Huawei to Motorola in accordance with a previous contract.

"Motorola's failure to adopt sufficient measures to ensure that Huawei's proprietary information remains confidential has compelled the company to file for the appropriate legal protection of its rights," Huawei said in its statement.

Motorola and Nokia Siemens Networks announced their deal in July 2010. The transaction was initially scheduled to close by the end of that year, but the companies are still waiting for approval from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce's Anti-Monopoly Bureau, according to Xinhua News Agency report.