Huawei Technologies, China's largest telecoms equipment maker, said its net income rose 20 percent in 2008 on robust sales due to its leadership in emerging markets and increasing demand for broadband solutions in developed markets.

 

The Shenzhen-based Huawei, which ranked No. 3 in the global mobile equipment market in 2008, posted yearly net income of $1.15 billion against $957 million in 2007.

 

Revenue rose 43 percent to $18.3 billion while its operating profit margin rose by 3 percentage points to 13 percent, it said in a statement embargoed until Wednesday.

 

'We...expect the momentum to continue this year,' William Xu, chief marketing officer of Huawei said in the statement.

 

Huawei and smaller rival ZTE have been expanding rapidly, taking market share with aggressive pricing from global giants such as Nokia ( NOK - news - people ) and Nortel Networks ( NT - news - people ).

 

Huawei said markets outside of China now account for over 75 percent of its total sales.

 

The company expects sales to exceed $30 billion in 2009, representing a rise of 29 percent year-on-year, slower than a 46 percent increase in 2008.

 

Fitch Rating said in a report earlier this year that the outlook for the global telecom equipment sector in 2009 was negative amid margin pressures in both handset and infrastructure markets.