TECH giant Huawei has said its sales of smartphones and other products grew by double digits last year despite U.S. sanctions but warned it now faces a “more complicated” global environment.

Last year’s sales of Huawei rose 19.1 percent over 2018 to 858.8 billion yuan (US$123 billion), in line with the previous year’s 19.5 percent gain, the company reported. Profit increased 5.6 percent to 62.7 billion yuan, decelerating from 2018’s 25 percent jump.

Business “remains solid” despite “enormous outside pressure,” Eric Xu, one of three people who take turns as Huawei’s chairman, said in a statement Tuesday.

But Xu predicted that 2020 will be its “most difficult year” as Huawei struggles with the sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic.

Xu said he couldn’t confirm news reports U.S. President Donald Trump might try to extend controls to block access to foreign-made products that contain U.S. technology. Xu said Huawei can find other sources but warned more pressure might trigger Chinese retaliation against American companies.

“I think the Chinese Government will not just stand by and watch Huawei be slaughtered,” Xu said at a news conference in Shenzhen. He said U.S. pressure on foreign suppliers “will be destructive to the global technology ecosystem.”

Huawei, China’s first global tech brand, said it is owned by the 104,572 members of its 194,000-member workforce who are Chinese citizens.

The company, the world’s No. 2 smartphone brand behind Samsung, said 2019 handset sales rose 15 percent to 240 million units.

Demand for Huawei smartphones in markets outside China weakened “very fast” after the May 16 U.S. sanctions, Xu said. He said its consumer unit lost at least an estimated US$10 billion in potential sales, but the business started to bounce back in the final quarter of 2019.

Xu said it was impossible to forecast this year’s handset sales until the spreading coronavirus pandemic is brought under control.

Huawei is creating its own services to replace Google and says its system had 400 million active users in 170 countries by the end of 2019. Xu said Huawei hopes Google applications can run on the Chinese company’s system and be distributed on the American company’s online store.(SD-Agencies)