ZTE released its annual report for 2023 on March 8th. The report shows that the company achieved operating revenue of CNY 124.251 billion in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 1.05%; net profit attributable to shareholders was CNY 9.326 billion, a year-on-year increase of 15.41%; non-recurring net profit attributable to shareholders was CNY 7.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 19.99%; and net cash flow from operating activities reached CNY 17.406 billion, a year-on-year increase of 129.70%.
While achieving record-high operating revenue, net profit, and net cash flow from operating activities, ZTE continued to increase its investment in research and development. The annual report shows that ZTE's R&D expenses in 2023 were CNY 25.289 billion, a year-on-year increase of 17.01%, accounting for 20.35% of revenue.
Data shows that from 2018 to 2022, ZTE's R&D investment doubled to reach CNY 21.6 billion, and the proportion of R&D expenses to revenue also increased from 12.75% to 17.57%. The further breakthrough of R&D investment proportion in 2023, exceeding 20%, indicates that the company continues to enhance its R&D intensity, increase investment in underlying technologies, and embrace business innovations from connectivity to computing power.
The annual report points out that the growth of R&D expenses is mainly due to the company's continuous investment in the fields of 5G, 5G-A, chips, servers and storage, and innovative businesses.
