The Chinese smartphone maker is finally able to split the top two positions held by Samsung and Apple for the last seven years this quarter. Huawei manufactured and shipped more smartphones in quarter two than Apple and clinched the second position in smartphone manufacturing.
According to IDC report, Huawei shipped a total number of 54.2 million handsets in quarter two, which is a 40% increase in its sales over the last few years. The first place remained for Samsung with 71.5 million handsets and Apple has moved down to third position with 41.3 million handsets. Both Samsung and Apple took a slump in production compared to last year. Samsung’s is down by -10.4% while Apple’s had a growth of 0.7%, which is a pretty moderate and slow one.
Huawei always have had a strong market presence in China with a largest market share of 27% in smartphone. Huawei took a hit when it was banned from selling in the US market over the issue of spying on US citizens, a reason which experts believe why Huawei concentrated on European and South Asian markets outside China to bring in growth. And it has worked well for Huawei, as the company attributed to its flagship P20 for one of its winning champion; about 7 million P20 handsets was shipped by Huawei this quarter. Other contributors are Huawei’s Nova series, a mid-range player and has a huge demand in Asian markets, and Honor brand phones which have collectively stimulated the growth factor.
But this success of Huawei’s could be short lived because Apple usually takes the market reign in fall when it releases its flagship iPhone handsets in September. But among the three it is perhaps Samsung who is having a difficult time with its flagship Galaxy S9. Samsung reported that both S9 and S9+, which was released during first quarter of 2018, recorded ‘slower than normal sales’. Samsung held the stagnant and saturated smartphone market as reasons. The newly launched Galaxy Note 9 is intended to garner sales before Apple’s new iPhone handsets are launched in the market.
Xiaomi and Oppo are in the third and fourth positions respectively. Xiaomi has given tough competitions to Samsung in India and has beaten it and acquired to top position in Indian market. In Indonesia too, Xiaomi is almost in head on collision with Samsung. The Chinese brand is expanding extensively through online stores and opening up more Mi home stores in China. Oppo has rather taken a sluggish approach in its marketing strategies both in India and Asian markets.
There has been an overall slow growth in worldwide smartphone market with a 1.8% decline in Q2. “The combination of market saturation, increased smartphone penetration rates, and climbing ASPs continue to dampen the growth of the overall market,” said Anthony Scarsella, research manager with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. According to experts, smartphone manufacturers have to being in innovation in form factors coupled with strong market drives to boost smartphone market. Phones with more premium offerings in competitive price range needs to be offered in the already saturated mobile device market.
