After five years since its launch, Huawei's smart car business has successfully turned a profit, highlighting Huawei's strategic vision and firm execution in the automotive field. Yu Chengdong's statement not only demonstrates Huawei's confidence in its automotive business but also reflects the company's profound insight and long-term planning for the future of the automotive industry.
Since its establishment in 2019, Huawei's Smart Car Solutions Business Unit has transformed from loss to profit through continuous research and development investment and market expansion. Behind this transformation is Huawei's innovation drive and market strategy in the smart car field. According to Huawei's 2023 annual report, the revenue of the smart car solutions business has grown significantly, becoming one of Huawei's fastest-growing business segments. This growth is attributed to the strong sales of multiple models under Huawei's HI Smart Car business and deep cooperation with several automakers.
Image: Profits from Huawei's automotive business?
Huawei's 2023 annual report shows that the company achieved global sales revenue of RMB 704.2 billion and a net profit of RMB 87 billion last year. This indicates that Huawei's performance in the fourth quarter of 2023 was positive, as net profit increased by 144.5% year-on-year.
In the first quarter of 2024, Huawei achieved revenue of approximately RMB 178.45 billion, a year-on-year increase of 36.66%; net profit attributable to shareholders was approximately RMB 19.65 billion, a year-on-year increase of 564.04%. This significant growth is mainly attributed to the incremental revenue brought by the strong sales of the Mate 60 series smartphones and the Wanjie cars. This reflects Huawei's strong rebound after a series of challenges and is expected to surpass the historical high of RMB 891.368 billion in operating income in 2020, and even strive for the trillion yuan target.
Huawei's technological innovation in the smart car field is key to its profitability improvement. Through independently developed technologies such as intelligent driving, smart cockpit, and intelligent vehicle control, Huawei has built leading competitiveness in the smart car field. Especially in the field of intelligent driving, Huawei's advanced intelligent driving system claims to eliminate the dependence on high-precision maps. This technological breakthrough will undoubtedly further enhance Huawei's competitiveness in the smart car market.
Additionally, Huawei continues to expand its footprint in the smart car market through cooperation with automakers. Huawei's HI Smart Car business model, through deep collaboration with automakers, jointly builds smart car brands. These collaborations not only accelerate the market application of Huawei's technology but also bring new sources of revenue for Huawei.
Looking ahead, Huawei is expected to continue consolidating and expanding its leading position in the smart car field through technological innovation and market expansion. Especially against the backdrop of the rapid development of the smart car industry, Huawei is expected to further promote the intelligent development of the automotive industry through its profound technological accumulation in the ICT field.
Huawei's success in the smart car field also provides valuable experience for other technology companies entering the automotive industry. Huawei's case demonstrates that through continuous research and development investment, technological innovation, and market cooperation, technology companies are fully capable of making breakthroughs in the traditional automotive industry and creating new growth opportunities.
In summary, the profitability and market expansion of Huawei's smart car business are the results of its long-term strategic layout and technological innovation. With the rapid development of the smart car industry, Huawei is expected to continue expanding its influence in this field and make greater contributions to promoting the intelligent and digital transformation of the automotive industry. Huawei's successful experience also provides reference and inspiration for other technology companies to enter the automotive industry, indicating that the deep integration of technology and the automotive industry will bring more innovation and value to society as a whole.
