- Huawei generated $630 million from IP in 2024, doubling its pre-2020 earnings.
- The company’s transparent licensing strategy underpins its efforts to expand globally
- U.S .claims of Chinese security vulnerabilities are contradicted by its own military’s dependence on Chinese-made semiconductors
Huawei today formally disclosed its total revenues from its patent and IP licensing business at its 2025 Intellectual Property Forum here in Beijing.
In 2024, Huawei’s IP division made — drum roll — $630 million.
That’s only half a percent of Huawei’s 2024 total revenue of $118 billion, but it’s still a significant piece of change — and roughly double what Huawei earned from IP licensing before 2020.
So, who does Huawei have to thank for the ramp-up in patent revenue?
Strangely, one of the main catalysts for its growth is the U.S. government. In 2019, America imposed severe sanctions on Huawei and pressured other countries to do the same, aiming to stifle its growth.
However, in response, Huawei’s founder and CEO, Ren Zhengfei, did something extraordinary: he reversed his company’s policy of closely guarding its vast patent library by licensing it to everyone, everywhere, all at once.
Five years on, and Huawei now enjoys a substantial annual IP revenue stream of $630 million, which is set to grow quickly. Its IP is embedded in 2.7 billion 5G devices, with numbers expected to increase massively with the rise of IoT and Industry 4.0.
Even more importantly, Huawei’s open-door approach to intellectual property has ushered in a new era of cooperation with companies and countries worldwide — including significant multi-year global patent licensing agreements with Amazon, Samsung, Nokia, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW.
As a result, and despite U.S. efforts, most of the world now utilizes Huawei’s IP to build the advanced networks that will power the AI economy.
Of course, America isn’t giving up on its politically motivated efforts to oust Huawei from global telecom networks, though results have been decidedly mixed. Those advocating sanctions are typically right-wing politicians and media, who tend not to be bothered with things like facts and logic.
Conversely, I’ve never met a carrier executive who was worried about Huawei using their networks for espionage; they’re not buying the unsubstantiated U.S. claims that Chinese silicon contains security vulnerabilities or backdoors.
One reason is that the U.S. government’s aggressive rhetoric against Chinese tech is directly undermined by its own dependence on Chinese silicon for military use.
Approximately 40% of the U.S. Department of Defense's weapon systems rely on Chinese semiconductors, according to a 2024 report from Govini. For example, the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, contains 6,500 Chinese chips. It’s effectively “made in China.” Each F-35 fighter jet incorporates an estimated 900 pounds of silicon made from Chinese rare earth minerals. This is a profound level of entanglement — and a logic bomb. If Chinese silicon is secure enough for use in U.S. military assets, carriers ask, then why can’t it carry Snapchat conversations?
No reason at all, as far as this observer can see.
Steve Saunders is a British-born communications analyst, investor and digital media entrepreneur with a career spanning decades.
Op-eds from industry experts, analysts or our editorial staff are opinion pieces that do not represent the opinions of Fierce Network.