Huawei rewards employees for accelerating revenue despite a US ban

Huawei Technologies Co. quickened revenue growth to roughly 30% in the first half after select teams secured critical supplies to keep production going despite U.S. technology export restrictions, people familiar with the matter said. Two months into a Trump-administration ban that cut Huawei off from American suppliers, China’s largest technology company is starting to feel the pinch.

Still, while revenue growth of 30% marks a slowdown from 39% in 2019’s first three months, it was up sharply from 2018, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. Executives told staff they were relieved it hadn’t been worse, one of the people said.

The question is how long Huawei can keep up that momentum as the curbs begin to weigh. Huawei is pulling out all the stops right now to boost sales, assigning as many as 10,000 developers across three shifts a day to work on alternatives to American software and circuitry.