Huang Wang, chairman and CEO of Huami, makes a speech in Beijing. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Chinese healthcare technology company Huami is still confident in its financial performance in the first quarter of 2020 despite markets dropping around the world due to the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic.

According to the company's predictions, its net income in the period is expected to be between 980 million yuan ($139.85 million) and 1.01 billion yuan, an increase of approximately 22.6 percent to 26.3 percent from 799.6 million yuan in the first quarter of 2019.

Huami's confidence comes from its growth in the past quarter. Statistics show that in the fourth quarter of 2019, its operating income reached 2.11 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 72.4 percent, and it sold 14.7 million units, a year-on-year increase of 59.8 percent and the most it has ever sold in a single quarter.

Hunag Wang, founder and CEO of Huami, said the company's steady growth is mainly due to new products launches, efficient sales and marketing, and cooperation through direct and third-party channels to further expand into the international market.

Its independent brand AMAZFIT accounted for 51.6 percent of the company's overseas shipments in 2019 and has now expanded to more than 70 countries.

According to a report by IDC, a market-research firm, in the fourth quarter of 2019, the AMAZFIT brand ranked first in smart watches in India, Indonesia, and Spain, and ranked third in Russia and China (for adults). In Western Europe, shipments increased by 440.1 percent.

Huami has long been committed to using technology to improve people's health and is always developing new products using world-class smart wearable technology.

It unveiled six new smart wearable products, which are expected to transform people's idea of fitness, at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the United States, in January. At the show, it received the Most Noteworthy Smart Wearable Innovation Enterprise award and the Best TWS Fitness Earphones award.

Huang said Huami and all of its supply chain partners had resumed operations, and that the company has spent 11.5 million yuan in donations, including medical supplies.

The company has been using big data and artificial intelligence technology to monitor and analyze the epidemic and is trying to cooperate with more research institutes to establish an early warning system for epidemics.

Huang said Huami will continue to cooperate with the Peking University First Hospital to provide cloud-based healthcare services and is planning to begin mass production of its independently-designed AI chips this year.