China-based telecom giant Huawei has kept up a dizzying pace of growth in recent years as it expanded its offerings globally, but it suffered a rare slump in 2020 as U.S. sanctions and COVID-related supply chain restrictions took a significant chunk out of its revenues.
Despite the hit to its business, the company has not yet engaged in talks with the Biden administration about trying to resolve the trade tension between China and the U.S., which has placed tech companies such as Huawei at the center of the debate.
"We're not having any conversations as yet with the Biden administration," Andrew Williamson, vice president of global government affairs and economic adviser for Huawei, told Cheddar. "We know this is a very new administration. They have many issues to tackle."
Williamson also stressed that while 2020 was a rough year for Huawei, and most other companies, the decline in revenue was relative to an overall strong year for the company.
"I think the upside is that, you know, despite facing multiple headwinds, the company was able to grow by 33.8 percent year-on-year in terms of total revenue, and profits were up also at 3.2 percent, reaching just under $10 billion U.S. dollars," he said.
He said this growth is a testament to the company's resilience, and in particular to the strength of its enterprise business group and cloud computing division, which grew 23 percent last year. As the pandemic accelerated companies' digital transition, Huawei reaped the benefits.
"We've seen through the pandemic this great acceleration of trends that were already apparent, and a lot of it is about digital transformation for businesses," Williamson said. "We see enormous potential here as a world-leading supplier of hardware and also services for cloud computing."
The U.S. has placed this business model in jeopardy, however, with export rules designed to cut off Huawei from crucial semiconductors. This has hammered the company's smartphone business and its efforts to build 5G infrastructure around the world.
"We've always been very open to any conversation to resolve these issues," Williamson said.
The company nonetheless has continued to bring 5G to other countries, despite efforts by the U.S. to contain the company's global ambitions.
"We're still doing really well internationally," he added. "Generally, the prospects, the potential for us still looks pretty good on 5G infrastructure."
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
Elon Musk on Monday targeted Apple and OpenAI in an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the iPhone maker and the ChatGPT maker are teaming up to thwart competition in artificial intelligence.
