When Huawei smartphones regained their top spot in China and when HarmonyOS devices surpassed 50 million units, the tech giant's ambitions in the automotive sector finally emerged from its financial reports. On March 31, Huawei released its 2025 annual report. Global sales revenue reached 880.9 billion yuan, a 2.2% year-on-year increase; net profit amounted to 68 billion yuan, up 8.7% year-on-year. Amid a complex macroeconomic environment, this performance can be considered robust. Yet the truly eye-catching figures lie hidden in the minutiae of business segments—revenue from smart car solutions surged to 45.018 billion yuan over three years. This growth rate far exceeded that of ICT infrastructure (2.6%), consumer business (1.6%), and even digital energy (12.7%). In 2025, while the entire industry was talking about "chilling conditions," Huawei's automotive business was soaring. #01 Huawei's "Fire and Ice" in 2025 Let's first take a look at Huawei's performance across business segments in 2025:

This table clearly presents Huawei's business landscape in 2025: three segments are growing, but at vastly different rates. Digital Energy grew by 12.7%, which is decent; ICT infrastructure edged up 2.6%, remaining roughly flat. The terminal business only expanded by 1.6%, nearly stagnant—a figure that may surprise many. After all, IDC data shows China's smartphone market shipped about 285 million units in 2025, with Huawei accounting for 46.7 million units, reclaiming the top spot in the Chinese smartphone market. Despite being the volume leader, revenue growth was just 1.6%. What does this indicate? Simply put, the average selling price declined. Huawei phones have fully returned to the market—from the premium Mate series to the affordable Enjoy series, with the Kirin 5G chip now deployed in budget phones. This means Huawei is trading lower prices for market share. However, this also raises a concern: sales are rising while revenue isn't keeping pace, suggesting Huawei's smartphone average price is being dragged down. For Huawei, this is a strategic choice—regain market share first, then focus on profits. But how long this process will take remains uncertain. Two segments are declining. Cloud computing dropped 3.5%, while other businesses plummeted 76.4%. If the terminal segment is "lackluster growth," then cloud computing is "sustained underperformance." In 2025, Huawei's cloud computing revenue reached 32.161 billion yuan, down 3.5% year-on-year. More troubling is that this isn't the first decline for Huawei Cloud. Data shows: in 2022, Huawei Cloud's revenue was approximately 45.3 billion yuan; by 2023, it rose to 55.3 billion; in 2024, it continued declining to 38.5 billion; and by 2025, it had fallen to just 32.161 billion.

In 2 years, it fell from 55 billion to 32 billion, a shrinkage of over 40%. At the same time, Alibaba Cloud's fiscal year 2025 revenue exceeded 110 billion yuan, and its market share remained the highest in China. The gap between Huawei Cloud and Alibaba Cloud is getting bigger and bigger. Cloud computing is a typical "economies of scale" business - the larger the market share, the lower the cost, and the stronger the competitiveness. The decline of Huawei Cloud means that Huawei is falling behind in this competition of cloud computing. The intelligent automotive business, with a growth rate of 72.1%, has become the only highlight among all Huawei business segments that is truly growing rapidly. #From 2.1 billion to 45 billion, the growth rate has skyrocketed 20 times in three years, reaching 72.1%. What does this growth rate mean? It is the fastest-growing business segment among all Huawei business segments, and the only one with a growth rate exceeding 20%.

From 2.1 billion yuan in 2022, to 4.7 billion yuan in 2023, to 26.353 billion yuan in 2024, and then to 45.018 billion yuan in 2025- Huawei's automotive business has grown more than 20 times in three years. By the end of 2025, Qiankun Intelligent Driving has achieved joint listing with 35 cooperative models, providing intelligent driving solutions for more than 1.4 million passenger cars. Among luxury car models priced over 350000 yuan in China, the Qiankun Intelligent Driving ranks first in market share. Hongmeng Zhixing will deliver 589100 vehicles by 2025, surpassing one million vehicles in 43 months, setting a record for the fastest delivery of new force brands in China. In January 2025, Huawei's establishment of Yinwang Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. began operations, injecting all assets related to intelligent automotive solutions into the business as a strategic carrier for Huawei to achieve commercialization in the field of intelligent vehicles. Huawei is using its automotive business to fill the gap left by the slow growth of other businesses.

#03 Anti cyclical investment in dark moments: Ren Zhengfei's far sighted vision

At the same time as the release of the financial report, Huawei's rotating chairman Meng Wanzhou said something that is worth pondering for everyone: "The silicon-based era has begun, destined to be full of ups and downs, and will inevitably be magnificent. We firmly believe that this will be the biggest development opportunity and the most certain strategic opportunity in the next 10 years or even longer. Over the past 30 years, our unremitting pursuit and active accumulation are aimed at seizing this largest technological change in human history." Meng Wanzhou defined the current era as the "silicon-based era" - a new era driven by silicon-based chips, artificial intelligence, intelligent driving, and the Internet of Things. Huawei's judgment is that this will be the biggest development opportunity and the most certain strategic opportunity in the next 10 years or even longer. Why does Huawei invest billions in research and development? Why increase investment in the most difficult moments? The answer is here. Take a look at the sales and R&D data of the past few years:

2021, 2022, and 2023 will be Huawei's most difficult three years - chip supply will be cut off, mobile phone business will be halved, and overseas markets will be hindered. But it was during such dark times that Huawei's R&D investment not only did not decrease, but continued to increase, reaching a historical high of 25.1% in 2022. At the most difficult moment, Ren Zhengfei chose to "invest countercyclically" - throwing money into the future and betting hope on technology. Today, three years later, these investments are starting to materialize: Kirin chips are back, HarmonyOS systems are firmly established, and the smart car business is booming. At this point, we cannot help but applaud Ren Zhengfei's far sightedness.

#04 written at the end

In 2025, Huawei's business structure is undergoing profound changes. The former two pillars - ICT infrastructure and terminal business - have both entered a period of steady growth, with growth rates falling back to single digits. The growth of cloud computing, which was once highly anticipated, is also slowing down. Nowadays, Huawei's growth hopes are almost entirely invested in the smart car business. In 2026, the Qijing GT7 will be launched in June, and the first model of the Yijing will also be unveiled at the Beijing Auto Show in April. Can the "Jing" series replicate the success of the Q&A world? Can Yinwang Company achieve independent hematopoiesis? Can Huawei's automotive business scale from 45 billion to 100 billion? These issues will determine Huawei's growth curve for the next decade. Huawei is betting on the biggest technological revolution in human history with the accumulation of the past thirty years. The financial report for 2025 is just a footnote to this transformation; The revenue of 45 billion yuan from smart cars is just the beginning. A company that was fully strangled by the world's strongest national machinery but still emerged from the bottom of the valley, its future is worth looking forward to by all of us. Meng Wanzhou said, "We are undoubtedly heading towards a tomorrow full of uncertainty." But on the track of smart cars, Huawei's footsteps are becoming increasingly firm.