Born in 1972, Meng Wanzhou was a few years ago at the heart of serious diplomatic tensions between China on the one hand and the United States and Canada on the other. His appointment was expected.

Huawei has been blacklisted since 2019 by the US administration in a context of technological rivalry with China and suspicions of espionage on behalf of the Chinese authorities.

This measure cuts the group from global supply chains of components but also Google's Android operating system, present on the vast majority of smartphones in the world. A situation that heavily weakens the phone branch of Huawei, pushed in 2020 to separate from its entry-level brand, Honor.

In this context, Huawei announced on Friday a net profit down nearly 69% year-on-year for the year 2022.

The group made a profit of 35.6 billion yuan (4.7 billion euros), against 113.7 billion yuan a year earlier. It was his best performance ever.

On the other hand, revenue increased slightly year-on-year (+0.9%), to 642.3 billion yuan (85.8 billion euros). In 2021, it had fallen by more than 28%.

Eric Xu, who will be replaced as Huawei's rotating chairman by Meng Whanzhou, during the presentation of the group's 2022 results, in Shenzhen on March 31, 2023 © STR / AFP

"In 2022, a challenging business environment and factors outside the market continued to weigh on Huawei's business," CEO Eric Xu admitted at a press conference.

Diplomatic crisis

"Significant investment in research and development" also explains the decline, a Huawei spokeswoman told AFP. "U.S. restrictions are our new normal," said Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, who will succeed Eric Xu as Huawei's rotating six-month chairman on Saturday.

The discreet executive had suddenly found herself at the heart of a diplomatic-judicial saga, exacerbated by a technological rivalry between the United States and China.

On December 1, 2018, Huawei's number two was arrested at the request of Washington during a stopover at Vancouver airport (Canada).

A few days later, two Canadians, Michael Spavor, a businessman, and former diplomat Michael Kovrig, were arrested in China, causing a crisis between Beijing and Ottawa.

Indicted for "bank fraud," Meng was accused of lying to circumvent U.S. sanctions on Iran.

A crime punishable by more than 30 years in prison in the United States, to which she was threatened with extradition.

After nearly three years of proceedings, Meng Wanzhou finally found freedom in September 2021 and returned to China.

The American justice system definitively closed its proceedings against her in December 2022. In March last year, during the presentation of Huawei's annual results, Meng Wanzhou made her first major media appearance since her legal setbacks.

Under pressure from Washington

Huawei was once one of the top three smartphone manufacturers in the world, along with Korea's Samsung and America's Apple.

Huawei press conference for the presentation of 2022 results in Shenzhen, March 31, 2023 © STR / AFP

The brand briefly occupied the number one position, boosted by Chinese demand and sales in emerging markets.

Huawei did not disclose details of the number of mobile phones it sold last year.

The firm is not listed and is therefore not subject to the same obligations of certification of accounts or details in the publication of its results as the groups on the stock exchange.

Huawei is also the world's leading equipment manufacturer for 5G. But Washington has pressured its allies to scrap the brand to equip their 5G networks, arguing that Beijing could use Huawei to monitor communications.

The firm is now refocusing on the Chinese market and diversifying its activities, particularly in cloud computing, connected cars and chip design. Headquartered in Shenzhen in southern China, Huawei has some 207,000 employees and is present in more than 170 countries.

© 2023 AFP