Huawei announces record sales, 5G chip launch

World
Europe

China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd announced on Thursday its consumer business sales made a record of over 52 billion U.S. dollars in 2018 on strong demands for its smartphones.

The firm said it also launched a core chip for 5G base stations.

Despite the intense scrutiny faced in Western countries, Huawei's consumer business revenue jumped about 50 percent last year, replacing its carrier business as its largest segment by sales, Richard Yu, the head of the consumer division said at a press conference in Beijing, according to Reuters.

Last month, Huawei said its total revenue increased to 109 billion U.S. dollars with 21 percent year-on-year growth, surpassing 100 billion U.S. dollars for the first time.

The world's biggest producer of telecommunication equipment also unveiled at the press conference its latest move on 5G by launching its first core chip named TIANGANG designed explicitly for the 5G base station, according to a press release on its website.

The company claimed the chip, which supports simplified 5G networks and large-scale 5G network deployment all over the world, has won 30 commercial 5G contracts and shipped over 25,000 5G base stations globally.

Huawei has been devoted to 5G technology, and has deployed 5G networks in more than ten countries and planned to enter 20 countries in next 12 months, Ken Hu, the company's deputy chairman and rotating chairman said at Davos on Tuesday, predicting the 5G smartphone will hit the market in June.