China telecom giant Huawei first half revenue up 30%

Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei said on Monday that revenue surged 30 percent year-on-year in the first half, helped by "solid" sales of smartphones and growth in other business areas.

Huawei said in a statement sales reached 175.9 billion yuan ($28.8 billion) on an unaudited basis in the January-June period.

"Huawei's mid-range and high-end smartphones... have made solid progress, helping us guarantee quality and sustainable growth in the consumer business," Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou said.

Huawei will release figures for its smartphone business later this week, a company spokesman said.

International Data Corporation (IDC) says Apple was the top smartphone vendor in China during the first quarter this year with a 14.7 percent market share, helped by sales of its bigger screen iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Chinese upstart and media darling Xiaomi followed with a 13.7 market share and Huawei was third with 11.4 percent, IDC said.

Last year, Huawei's group revenue rose 20.6 percent from 2013 to 288.2 billion yuan, according to a previous statement. Net profit jumped 32.7 percent year-on-year to 27.9 billion yuan for 2014.

Huawei is not listed on any stock exchange but it releases financial information in the interest of transparency. US officials view Huawei as a security threat due to perceived close links to the Chinese government, which the company denies.