The continuing chip shortage, national security concerns in the US and regulatory pressures at home are all conspiring to make this an annus horribilis for Chinese tech companies.
Huawei suffered its biggest-ever decline in revenue in the first half of this year, as it was hit by the semi squeeze and US sanctions that are making it uncompetitive in the Android smartphone market.
Chair Eric Xu said that survival in spite of US pressure was Huawei’s overriding priority. The Chinese tech champion posted revenue of Rmb320.4bn ($49.5bn) in the first half, a decline of 29.4 per cent from the same period last year. Its consumer electronics arm’s revenue fell by nearly 47 per cent, or more than Rmb120bn.