Chinese tech giant Huawei profit surges 564%, biting into Apple sales

Tech giant Huawei's first-quarter profits surged over fivefold year-on-year, a company filing showed Tuesday, as the U.S.-sanctioned firm continues a rebound and bit into competitor Apple's sales in China. Huawei has long found itself caught in the middle of an intense technological rivalry between Beijing and Washington, which has warned the firm's equipment could be used for Chinese espionage operations - allegations denied by Huawei. Net profit in the January-March period amounted to $2.7 billion, up 564 percent from the first quarter of last year, according to a results filing by Huawei's holding company on an official website and confirmed by a representative of the firm. Huawei is a private, unlisted company, and is therefore not subject to the same obligations as other major firms to publish detailed results. Huawei competitor Apple saw iPhone sales slump by 19 percent in the first quarter in China, Bloomberg reported, citing market research firm Counterpoint. The latest earnings report comes a month after Huawei said its profits more than doubled in 2023, a year in which the smartphone maker continued its efforts to diversify. Revenue growth in the first quarter was achieved by "Seizing opportunities in digitalization, intelligence, and decarbonization", a Huawei representative told AFP, adding: "The industry and global markets will remain rife with uncertainty for the rest of 2024".