ZTE(000063) 搜狐财经·2025-04-01 08:21Core Insights - ZTE Corporation announced a significant leadership change with Fang Rong becoming the first female chairperson in the company's 40-year history, coinciding with the release of its 2024 annual report [1] - The annual report revealed a revenue of 121.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year decline of 2.4%, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 8.42 billion yuan, down 9.7% year-on-year [1] - The company faces challenges in its core business as the telecommunications industry undergoes transformation, particularly with the slowdown in 5G infrastructure development and increased competition [2] Financial Performance - ZTE's three core financial indicators showed a simultaneous decline, with operator network business revenue dropping by 5.3% due to reduced domestic 5G base station construction [1][2] - Although the consumer business saw a 12% increase in mobile phone shipments, intense price competition led to a compression in profit margins, with a 16.5% year-on-year decline in net profit after excluding non-recurring gains and losses [1][2] Industry Environment - The global telecommunications landscape is changing, with a 30% reduction in new 5G base station construction in China compared to peak levels, and global telecom operators' capital expenditure growth slowing to below 3% [2] - ZTE's growth potential in traditional communication equipment is narrowing as competitors like Huawei maintain a 35% market share in the 5G core network sector [2] Leadership and Strategy - Fang Rong's extensive experience in technology and global operations positions her to lead ZTE through its current challenges, having previously driven significant technological advancements and market expansions [3][4] - Under her leadership, ZTE aims to accelerate its transformation from a traditional telecommunications equipment provider to an intelligent service provider, focusing on a "connectivity + computing power" strategy [5] AI Transformation Challenges - ZTE plans to release base station equipment supporting intelligent computing power scheduling within the year, aiming for a 30% improvement in network energy efficiency [5] - The company faces challenges in building an ecosystem, with only around 200 partners on its digital platform compared to competitors with significantly larger developer ecosystems [5] - Supply chain risks, particularly due to U.S. export controls on high-end GPUs, are pushing ZTE to accelerate the development of GPU alternatives, although its current AI training card's computing density is only 60% of international standards [5][6]