China’s Huawei will see revenue from its smartphone business drop by at least $30 billion (roughly Rs. 2,21,140 crores -40 billion (roughly Rs. 2,94,860 crores) this year as the company continues to grapple with US restrictions on its supply chain, its rotating chairman Eric Xu said.

While the firm has been “getting used to US sanctions” imposed on it since 2019, its new 5G related business areas cannot offset the losses from the handset business, Xu said at a press conference in Beijing on Friday.

Former US president Donald Trump put Huawei on an export blacklist in 2019 and barred it from accessing critical US-origin technology, impeding its ability to design its own chips and source components from outside vendors.

Xu said his “biggest hope” for the company is that it will still exist in five to ten years.

While China’s efforts to develop its semiconductor industry have shown “quite encouraging results”, addressing Huawei’s supply chain challenges will take a long time, he said.

The company has been looking for new areas for growth such as 5G and AI-based infrastructure upgrades to airports and mines. China will be a world leader in applying 5G technology in the next few years, Xu said.

Huawei launched its Nova 9 and Nova 9 Pro smartphones on September 24. Both new mid-range phones carry quad rear cameras and come with an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G SoC.

The new Huawei Nova 9 and Nova 9 Pro also come with 120Hz OLED displays that offer up to 300Hz touch sampling rate. Huawei Nova 9 Pro carries dual selfie cameras and 100W fast charging. Huawei Nova 9 on the other hand has a single selfie camera and 66W charging. The Huawei Nova 9 Pro also features a larger display over the one available on the Nova 9.

© Thomson Reuters 2021