Huawei expects 2014 revenue to hit $47B on 4G, consumer growth

Huawei is expecting to clock global sales revenue upward of 289 billion yuan (US$47.26 billion) for 2014, with profits projected to hit between 33.9 billion and 34.3 billion yuan (US$5.54 billion and US$5.6 billion).

Its worldwide sales revenue estimates of between 287 billion and 289 billion yuan would indicate a 20 percent growth over 2013, which the Chinese networking giant attributed to robust 4G takeup across the globe.

Profit margin would likely clock at 12 percent, which would be on par with 2013 numbers, and 10 percent of its revenue would be reinvested in research and development (R&D) efforts, said Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in a statement Tuesday.

She noted that Huawei's three main business groups--carrier, enterprise, and consumer--contributed strong growth rates last year. The consumer division churned the highest revenue growth of 32 percent, driven by higher sales of mid-range and high-end handsets as well as the overall growth of the smartphone market globally.

Its enterprise business climbed by 27 percent and inked several partnerships in cloud computing and big data, including SAP and Accenture. Its carrier network division grew 15 percent, bolstered by robust global investment in 3G and 4G, particularly in emerging markets.

Meng said Huawei would continue to invest to improve its networks, noting that the company spent between 39.5 billion and 40.5 billion yuan (US$6.5 billion and US$6.6 billion) on R&D in 2014, up by 28 percent over the previous year.

Over the past decade, 188 billion yuan (US$30.74 billion) has been dedicated to support Huawei's research efforts, she said.

Huawei will release its finalized results in March 2015, after the numbers have been audited by KPMG.