Handset sales drove Huawei’s big 1H

About that robust Huawei 1H result: it’s mostly about the device.

After the vendor yesterday reported a 30% boost in first-half sales to 175.9 billion yuan ($28.3 billion), the consumer group today issued its own mini-statement. 

Like the company, it’s on a considerable roll, only more so. Revenue for the division increased a hefty 69% year-on-year to 56.3b yuan. It now accounts for 32% of the total, up from 24% this time last year.

Devices have become a big part of Huawei, and perhaps never more so in this period. Of the 40.1b yuan extra topline revenue, almost three-fifths came from the device team. While that includes tablets, wearable and smart home gear, smartphones are far and away the biggest part. Smartphone revenue rose 87% to 44.9b yuan, which the company attributed to a “focus on mid to high-end handsets.”

Unit numbers are impressive, too, with shipments up 39%. Huawei had an 8.8% market share in April, according to Gfk, while Gartner ranked it fourth in Q1 behind Samsung, Lenovo and Apple.

Perhaps the big message here is not just the financials but that Huawei has now become a smartphone as well as a carrier equipment heavyweight. Handset quality, like market share, has been building since it decided four years ago to go after the device market.

So is the brand. In a media briefing Huawei reminds that last year it became the first ever Chinese brand on the Interbrand top 100, and it ranks 79th on the BrandZ chart of valuable brands.

The device group is well ahead of its $16b revenue target for 2015. It's now aiming for $20b.