Huawei's rapid rise may topple Ericsson
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Huawei Technologies Co's revenue last year jumped 24 percent annually and its rapid growth may see the Chinese firm overtake Sweden-based Ericsson to become the world's No. 1 telecommunications equipment maker this year, according to industry insiders.
The Shenzhen-based firm, whose revenue tripled in the past three years, attributed the high growth to the boom in its international business, which accounted for 65 percent of total revenue and grew 34 percent annually in 2010.
Huawei's total revenue grew 24.2 percent from the previous year to 185.2 billion yuan (US$28 billion) in 2010. The world's No. 2 telecom equipment maker, also reported net profit soared an annual 30 percent to 23.8 billion yuan last year.
Ericsson's revenue in 2010 totaled US$28.3 billion, according to Bloomberg News calculation. Ecrisson's market value is 16 percent larger than Huawei's.
"Global operators continue to choose Huawei," said Ken Hu, its deputy chairman, said in a statement.
"We will continue to capitalize on opportunities provided by the industry's digital transformation to support our global business in 2011," Hu said.
By the end of last year, Huawei had installed networks, including 28 LTE (long-term evolution) ones, for operators globally.
LTE is a 4G (fourth generation) standard which represents the latest technology in the telecom industry.
Also last year, Huawei shipped 120 million devices around the world, including mobile phones and other wireless devices.
