Chinese networking equipment giant Huawei appears to be gaining traction in the Australian market, reporting revenue of $368 million here in 2012, a 61 per cent jump over the previous year.
It’s Huawei’s best result since the company was established here in 2004 and included 100 per cent revenue growth in its carrier business group. This growth was driven largely by the Optus Metro and LTE projects and the Radio Network Access Swap project for Vodafone Hutchison Australia.
“Huawei’s financial performance in 2012 is a reflection of the company’s growth in the Australian market – we are now working with all major Australian operators and employ over 700 staff in Australia, 85 per cent which are locals, Luke Austin, CFO at Huawei Australia said in a statement.
In 2012, the company’s device division launched a range of smartphones, including the Ascend P1 and Ascend D1 quad models. Its enterprise division is “still in the process of becoming established in the local market,” Austin said in the company’s 2012 Corporate Report.
Huawei has had somewhat of a rocky ride in Australia in recent times. In March last year, the company was banned from participating in tenders for the National Broadband Network (NBN) due to concerns over potential cyber threats from China.
During a public hearing of the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security last September, local chairman, John Lord, said the company still had a long way to go to gain the trust of the Australian government and public.
One month later, Lord suggested that a national cyber security centre should be built to test technologies for projects such as the NBN. This proposal was a response a US congressional report that warned of potential backdoors that could be exploited by Chinese state agencies.
Earlier this year, Huawei reported global revenues of US$35.35 billion for 2012, an 8 per cent increase on 2011.
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