(Yicai Global) March 6 -- Huawei Technologies today denied market rumors that it will break up its consumer business group, with the Chinese communication equipment giant saying it will continue to increase spending on the mobile phone business.

Huawei will persist on building a high-end brand and will release its latest flagship smartphone this month, an executive from the group’s CBG told Yicai Global today.

Shenzhen-based Huawei was considering splitting up its consumer business, JW Insights, a news site on the IC and ICT industry, reported yesterday, citing insiders. Huawei may reduce spending in the cellphone terminal business and transfer part of its research and development team to Honor, a smartphone brand previously spun off from Huawei, it added.

After the United States government restricted chip supplies to Huawei, the telecommunication giant spun off its brand Honor into a separate company in November 2020. Huawei still retains high-end models, including the Mate series, using Kirin chips it independently developed.

Last year, Honor was the only smartphone brand to see sales volume growth in the Chinese market, ranking fourth among all vendors as its share increased to 16.7 percent from 10.4 percent in 2021, data from market researcher Counterpoint Research showed.

Huawei, meanwhile, ranked sixth, with a market share of 7.9 percent.

Editor: Peter Thomas