Huawei reports biggest ever revenue drop as consumer growth engine stutters

SHENZHEN, China (Reuters) -Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies reported its biggest ever revenue drop in the first half of 2021, after U.S. sanctions drove it to sell a chunk of its once-dominant handset business and before new growth areas have fully matured.

The company generated revenue of 320.4 billion yuan ($49.56 billion), it said on Friday.

The biggest decline came from Huawei’s consumer business group, which includes handsets, where revenue fell 47% to 135.7 billion yuan.

It eked out a 0.6 percentage point rise in its net profit margin to 9.8%, largely due to efficiency improvements, a company spokesperson said.