What Separates Huawei from Ericsson

By Junko Yoshida, MADISON, Wis., Jul. 26, 2016 – 

On the day its biggest rival Ericsson lost a CEO under mounting pressure from investors, Huawei Technologies based in Shenzhen, China Monday reported a 40 percent jump in first-half sales.

The Chinese telecom gear giant's sales revenue reached 245.5 billion RMB ($36.8 billion) in the first six months of 2016, the company announced. Its operating margin fell to 12 percent, compared with 18 percent in the previous half-year.

Huawei saw steady growth across all three of its business groups - including enterprise, consumer and carrier businesses - Sabrina Meng, Huawei's chief financial officer, said in a statement. Huawei will "maintain its current momentum, and round out the full year," she added.

Luxury of being private
Huawei's results mark a sharp contrast to Ericsson, the Swedish mobile telecom equipment vendor, which last week reported a third consecutive year of sales declines in the face of deteriorating mobile network market conditions.

After falling short of analyst forecasts for the fourth quarter in a row, Ericsson announced Monday the resignation of chief executive Hans Vestberg. The search for a new CEO may take "months,"Reuters reported, quoting Ericsson chairman Leif Johansson.

Huawei and Ericsson compete against each other, but their comparative status today couldn't be more different.

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