Enterprise efforts prompt Huawei sales surge

Chinese phone maker expects 'sustainable growth' for the rest of the year too

Strong growth in enterprise software and services has helped Huawei's sales soar in the double digits for the first half of this year.

For the first six months of the year, the Chinese tech giant saw its sales rocket 19 per cent annually to CNY 135.8bn (£12.81bn) with an operating margin of 18.3 per cent. It did not disclose its profit figure for the period but said both its income and revenue were in line with its expectations.

The company said it was pleased with its performance in the enterprise space.

"Rapid growth in software and services helped maintain steady growth in our carrier network business," said its chief financial offer Cathy Meng. "Our efforts in the enterprise business have begun to pay off [and] we have enjoyed accelerated growth in this area.

According to the latest IDC figures, Huawei shipped 13.7 million smartphones in Q1 this year. The vendor did not break down its unit shipments but Meng said they were on the up.

"We achieved quality and sustainable growth in our consumer business thanks to the increase of brand awareness and smart devices sales worldwide," she said. "Our flagship smartphone, the Ascend P7, is being sold in more than 70 countries and regions."

Back in March, Huawei filed a whopping 1,077 patents in Europe in a bid to pledge its commitment to the region. Earlier on this year it declared it was "not interested in the US market anymore".

The firm was positive about the second half of 2014.

"We are confident that in 2014 we will achieve sustainable growth, robust operations, and healthy financials," Meng said.