Huawei Q1 sales drop 16.5% as US sanctions bite

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei said Wednesday that first-quarter revenue tumbled after harsh US sanctions ripped into its phone business. 

Huawei has been at the center of intense US-China trade and technological rivalry in recent years and the Trump administration accused it of potential espionage on behalf of Beijing without providing hard evidence. 

As a result, it was placed by Washington on a 2019 blacklist that prevented it from acquiring US-made technology crucial to its operations, in particular chips. 

Its 5G infrastructure has also been removed or delayed in a succession of Western countries on national security concerns, which drew sharp rebukes from Beijing.

Huawei said it generated first-quarter revenue of 152.2 billion yuan (US$23.4 billion) – a fall of 16.5% on-year – and attributed the drop to a decline in consumer revenue as the result of offloading a smart device brand. The firm sold its Honor budget phone line to a domestic consortium late last year.