Analysts: ‘Huawei’s smartphone market success an unexpected and remarkable result’
Huawei has had a tough go of it lately as the U.S. continues to box the Chinese company out of 5G network deployments. However, the company has experienced a few wins this week, securing a multi-year agreement with Qualcomm perhaps inspired by the fact that, for the first time, Huawei achieved the top spot in the global smartphone market in Q2 2020, surpassing Samsung and Apple who have traded off the title for the last nine years.
According to market researcher Canalys, which first reported the news, Huawei shipped an estimated 55.8 million devices in the quarter, down 5% from last year, while Samsung shipped 53.7 million smartphones, a staggering 30% decrease from a year earlier, putting it in second place.
Canalys Senior Analyst Ben Stanton called Huawei’s success in this area an unexpected and “remarkable result,” adding that if it weren’t for the COVID-19 pandemic, it wouldn’t have happened.
“Huawei has taken full advantage of the Chinese economic recovery to reignite its smartphone business,” Stanton said. “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 lockdowns.”
While this is certainly good news for Huawei, the company is still subject to U.S. government restrictions, which has resulted in overseas shipments falling 27% in Q2. However, even as the ongoing tension between Huawei and the rest of the world continues, it has managed to become a dominating presence in its domestic market, boosting its Chinese shipments by 8% in Q2, and it now sells over 70% of its smartphones in mainland China.
“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.”
