BEIJING, Dec 29 Reuters Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies HWT.UL expects to report revenue exceeding 700 billion yuan 98.5 billion for 2023, according to comments from rotating chairman Ken Hu in an internal new year message seen by Reuters.

The figure indicates around 9 yearoveryear revenue growth from the 642.3 billion yuan reported in 2022.

The forecast offers further evidence that Huawei is rebounding after U.S. sanctions starting in 2019 crippled some of its business lines by restricting access to critical global technologies such as advanced chips.

Thanks to our partners across the value chain for standing with us through thick and thin. And I39;d also like to thank every member of the Huawei team for embracing the struggle for never giving up, Hu said.

After years of hard work, we39;ve managed to weather the storm. And now we39;re pretty much back on track.

In the message sent to staff, Hu said Huawei39;s device business segment, which includes its smartphone business, had performed better than expected in 2023.

In a surprising move in August, Huawei launched its Mate60 series of smartphones, which are believed to be powered by a domestically developed chipset. The release was widely viewed as marking Huawei39;s comeback into the highend smartphone market after years of struggling under U.S. sanctions.

Huawei39;s smartphone shipments surged 83 in October yearonyear, helping the overall Chinese smartphone market to grow 11 over the same period,…