Mobile equipment spending is in a healthy state. Or so Huawei’s recent results might suggest. Yesterday, the company reported first-half revenues up nearly a fifth to $22bn. Operating margins widened by 6 percentage points, surpassing 18 per cent. It would be tempting to see this 4G-driven growth as a positive for the equipment sector as a whole.
But unlisted Huawei has an advantage over US and Europe-listed network equipment peers: its status as national champion in a market that will account for about half of estimated worldwide capital spending on 4G equipment over the next two years.
China Mobile, with 800m subscribers, anticipates $36bn of expenditure for 2014. That’s an increase of two-thirds over 2013. One-third of the total will go to 4G. In the recent tender for 4G equipment in China, awarded in May, Chinese equipment makers were the clear winners. Huawei and listed rival ZTE won about a third each.