Huawei Technologies is preparing for a 40 percent to 60 percent decline in international smartphone shipments, Bloomberg reported on June 16.
The Chinese technology company is looking at options that include pulling the latest model of its marquee overseas smartphone, the Honor 20, according to the article, which cited people familiar with the matter.
The device will begin selling in parts of Europe, including Britain and France, on June 21, the report said. Executives will be monitoring the launch and may cut off shipments if the sales are poor, it said.
Marketing and sales managers at the tech giant are internally expecting a drop in volumes of anywhere between 40 million to 60 million smartphones this year, the report said.
In order to offset overseas decline, Huawei is aiming to grab up to half of China’s smartphone market in 2019, Bloomberg said. The company did not respond to a Reuters request seeking comment.
The U.S. government put Huawei, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment company, on a trade blacklist in May that bars U.S. suppliers from doing business with it because of what Washington says are national security concerns.
Huawei founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei said Huawei has taken a harder-than-expected hit from the U.S. ban.
Ren’s downbeat assessment that the ban will hit revenue by $30 billion, the first time Huawei has quantified the impact of the U.S. action, comes as a surprise after weeks of defiant comments from company executives who maintained Huawei was technologically self-sufficient.
A similar U.S. ban on China’s ZTE Corp, almost crippled business for Huawei’s smaller rival early last year before the curb was lifted.
The Trump administration slapped sanctions on Huawei at a time when U.S.-China trade talks hit rough waters. President Donald Trump has said U.S. complaints against Huawei could be resolved within the framework of any trade deal.
The ban has been eased slightly to allow a temporary general license that lets Huawei purchase U.S. goods.
