Huawei shipped 73.01 million smartphones in the first half of 2017, increasing 20.6% from a year earlier, according to the company's business results for the six-month period announced recently.

Huawei's consumer business group continued to deliver extraordinary growth, beating the industry average and penetrating high-end markets around the globe, said Richard Yu, CEO of the consumer business group.

Meanwhile, Huawei is set to expand its retail network worldwide and will see the number of its retail stores reach 56,000 by year-end 2017 compared to 35,000 in May 2016, Yu noted.

The consumer business group also saw revenues increase 36.2% on year to CNY105.4 billion (US$15.622 billion) in the first half of 2017.

Huawei as a whole, which comprise carrier, enterprise and consumer business groups, generated revenues of CNY283.1 billion during the January-June period, up 15% on year, with an operating margin of 11%.