Huawei overtakes Apple as world No. 2 smartphone seller

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China’s Huawei overtook Apple to become the world’s second-biggest smartphone seller during the second quarter of this year, according to data released by International Data Corporation (IDC).

It shows that Huawei moved into second position with shipments of 54.2 million. At the same time, South Korean electronics titan Samsung, the top smartphone maker, and Apple shipped 71.5 million and 41.3 million handsets respectively.

Huawei claimed 15.8 percent of the global smartphone market over April-June, overtaking Apple’s 12.1 percent and just behind Samsung’s 20.9 percent share, according to IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

The estimated rise in market share comes as a slowdown in the world’s biggest smartphone market, China, eased.

Data from Canalys, which estimates industrywide smartphone shipments in China topped 100 million in the second quarter from 91 million in the first, shows Huawei grew its share of the home market by six percentage points on year to a record 27 percent.

It has also managed to get ahead of its rivals by selling more feature-packed phones, analysts said.

“Huawei is shifting to more value-added models, by launching new flagship smartphones with the latest features. Huawei’s P20 Pro is the first flagship smartphone model to be equipped with triple cameras, beating competitors to market,” IHS Markit analyst Gerrit Schneemann said in a note.

The model of Huawei P20 Pro is exhibited at its flagship store in Shanghai. /VCG Photo

Increasing brand recognition is enabling Huawei to challenge Samsung in many price segments, IHS’ Schneemann said.

“The continued growth of Huawei is impressive, to say the least, as is its ability to move into markets where, until recently, the brand was largely unknown,” said Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers.

Huawei on Tuesday said overall it had raked in 15 percent higher revenue in the first six months of 2018, steady at levels seen a year ago. All its businesses, including smartphones, telecom equipment and IT infrastructure services, did well in the first six months of the year.

Revenue rose to 325.7 billion yuan (about 47.97 billion US dollars), while operating margin rose to 14 percent, from 11 percent a year ago.

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters