Huawei Becomes Biggest Smartphone Player in the World, Overtaking Samsung and Apple

Huawei has taken claim of the title of ‘biggest smartphone player’ in the world during the second quarter. For the first time, Huawei has overtaken both Samsung and Apple thanks to sales in China.

CNBC reports that data from Canalys shows that Huawei has shipped 55.8 million devices. While that number is large in and of itself, Canalys stated that Huawei’s shipment numbers are actually down 5 percent year on year. In contrast, Samsung shipped 53.7 million smartphones, with a 30 percent year on year dip.

This will be the first time Huawei has taken the top spot for a single quarter. Despite ongoing sanctions which see gateways closed in the US, Huawei still managed to proceed and work towards its goals of taking the top spot. 70 percent of the units sold during the second quarter were done so in mainland China.

For international markets, smartphone shipments took a dip of 27 percent year on year during the quarter. Europe, for instance, dropped to 16 percent of Huawei’s market share. For comparison, the European market made up 22 percent during the same period in 2019. In Europe, Huawei is considered the third-largest smartphone maker behind Samsung and Apple.

While Huawei has seen quite the successful quarter, analysts ponder on whether this will be a sustainable trend. In a press release, Mo Jia, an analyst at Canalys said: “It will be hard for Huawei to maintain its lead in the long term.” Jia continued, “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.”

With other countries putting Huawei under a microscope, the smartphone maker may find it difficult to strengthen its international markets to maintain dominance.