Bengaluru, NFAPost: Huawei shipped more smartphones worldwide than any other vendor for the first time in Q2, 2020.
It marks the first quarter in nine years that a company other than Samsung or Apple has led the market.
Huawei shipped 55.8 million devices, down 5% year on year. By contrast, second-placed Samsung shipped 53.7 million smartphones, a 30% fall against Q2, 2019.
Huawei is still subject to US government restrictions, which have stifled its business outside of mainland China. In part, as a result, its overseas shipments fell 27% in Q2.
But it has grown to dominate its domestic market, boosting its Chinese shipments by 8% in Q2, and it now sells over 70% of its smartphones in mainland China.
Economic development
China has emerged strongest from the coronavirus pandemic, with factories reopened, economic development continuing and tight controls on new outbreaks.
According to Ben Stanton, an analyst of the smartphone market for Canalys in the UK, this is a remarkable result that few people would have predicted a year ago.
“If it wasn’t for COVID-19 it wouldn’t have happened. Huawei has taken full advantage of the Chinese economic recovery to reignite its smartphone business. Samsung has a very small presence in China, with less than 1% market share, and has seen its core markets, such as Brazil, India, the United States and Europe, ravaged by outbreaks and subsequent lockdown,” Stanton said.
Channel partners
Another Canalys Analyst, Mo Jia, said taking first place is very important for Huawei as the company is desperate to showcase its brand strength to domestic consumers, component suppliers and developers.
“It needs to convince them to invest, and will broadcast the message of its success far and wide in the coming months. But it will be hard for Huawei to maintain its lead in the long term. Its major channel partners in key regions, such as Europe, are increasingly wary of ranging Huawei devices, taking on fewer models, and bringing in new brands to reduce risk. Strength in China alone will not be enough to sustain Huawei at the top once the global economy starts to recover,” he said.
This article first appeared in the NFA Post and is republished here with permission.
