Huawei forecasts 15% increase in 2014 revenues to US$46 billion

Huawei is forecasting its 2014 revenue to increase 15 per cent to US$46 billion, driven in large part by its mobile device and enterprise businesses.

The company said its consumer business group was expected to generate revenue of US$11.8 billion, a 30 per cent increase from 2013.

The company’s CEO, Ken Hu, who shares the CEO duties in a six-month rotation, said in a message that more than 20 million smartphones with the Honor brand were sold through online channels worldwide, an increase of 30 times in just its first year.

As it pushes both the Huawei and Honor brands directly to consumers, the company said it has set up 450 retail shops worldwide. Sales through open channels (non-operator) now account for 45 per cent of total sales.

The Shenzhen-based company announced last week smartphone sales increased by nearly one-third in 2014 to reach US$11.8 billion as shipments increased 40 per cent to 75 million smartphones.

Although the company increased its smartphone shipments, the total fell short of its previously-stated goal of 80 million units.

Recent figures from analyst firm Gartner showed that Chinese players continued to expand their market share in the smartphone sector during the third quarter of 2014.

Huawei was ranked third for smartphone sales, just ahead of fellow Chinese players Xiaomi and Lenovo. The three companies saw their combined share of the global smartphone market increase by 4.2 percentage points year-on-year.

Huawei said it sold four million Ascend 7 units within six months of launch.