Chinese tech giant Huawei has emerged the leader for the first time in the worldwide smartphone market. This feat was achieved in Q2 sales despite troubles the vendor has been having in the US and with US related companies.
According to the latest from Canalys, this 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. But second-placed Samsung shipped 53.7 million smartphones, a 30% fall against Q2 2019.
This is one company that has taken advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to dominate its domestic market, boosting its Chinese shipments by 8% in Q2, and reducing the impact of the US ban which in part led to its overseas shipments falling by 27% in Q2. Huawei now sells over 70% of its smartphones in mainland China.
According to Huawei in a statement; “Our business has demonstrated exceptional resilience in these difficult times. Amidst a period of unprecedented global economic slowdown and challenges, we’ve continued to grow and further our leadership position by providing innovative products and experience to consumers.”
As part of Huawei’s resilience, the company had to double up on the development of the HMS ecosystem when it was affected by the infamous US trade ban. Ever since the Chinese company has not been able to conduct business with most US firms, including Google, except on the basis of a restrictive temporary license which has been renewed many times since May 2019.
Huawei announced recently that it has actually reached 1.6 million developers around the world dealing with the Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) core and the HMS ecosystem has now reached 700 million users worldwide, which amounts to a growth of 32% on an annual basis.
“Taking first place is very important for Huawei,” said Canalys Analyst Mo Jia. “It 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.”
As the lockdown eases, this might not be the same picture in the 3rd quarter. The other two competitors are geared up to launch new devices into the market to stimulate demand: Apple with its Apple’s 5G-enabled iPhone 12 expected which is due for launch this year and Samsung new devices at the Galaxy Unpacked 2020 scheduled for August 5, 2020
