We know Huawei to be one of the household names when it comes to smartphones. The no. 1 smartphone manufacturer in China, may be on its way to being number one in the world soon. It held the number 3 spot for quite some time, but 6 months into 2018, it overtook Apple, becoming the second largest smartphone seller in the world. While we all know that Apple just became a 1 trillion dollar company, but lost its position in the global market. This may be bittersweet for Apple, but right now, Is Huawei on its way to become the top phone manufacturer?
Now, there are so many numbers and statistics at play here and this might not interest you. What you need to know, however, is that Huawei saw a 40.9% increase in sales by the 2nd quarter of 2018. So, now, it occupies 15.8% market share in the world’s smartphone market, from 11% in 2017. Even with being blocked out of the US citing cybersecurity reasons, they continue to grow. Maybe that itself is one of the reasons for its rise? Maybe, because its popularity is increasing in the Asian and European markets.
The reason may be a modification of the designs, the introduction of some new innovative features and being a bit more affordable than the likes of Apple and Samsung. Huawei’s flagships feature specs that can compete with that of Apple and Samsung’s. Combine that with innovative approaches like the triple camera of the P20 Pro, and you have a hit. Also, all that is available for slightly lesser prices than that of Samsung’s high-end flagships.
However, Samsung still takes the lead with 20.9% market share globally. But that being said, Samsung is losing its share, and has gone down by 10.4% than last years’. Its flagships, the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ saw quite slow sales. Granted that they still remain unbeaten in aspects like display, but that doesn’t seem enough for consumers. So, they might be launching the Galaxy Note 9 a bit earlier, before other companies release their flagships this year. They might be the top players, but we cannot be certain for how long.
And on this side, Huawei is more optimistic than ever. They forecast more than 200 million sales by the end of 2018, and boast they might become the top sellers by the end of 2019. Also, with Samsung’s declining market share, this is quite possible. This is a difference, we are seeing even in Nepal. The streets of New Road which used to be full of “Samsung” billboards, are now replaced with Chinese brands like Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo. Huawei is coming up with great phones in the mid-range sector like Nova 3i and in the high-end sector like Nova 3, in addition to their flagships and expanding their Honor series as well. In addition, they might be integrating specs rumored to be available in Next year’s Samsung’s flagships into their rumored flagship, the Mate 20 series. This, if it happens, will clearly set them apart.
What are your thoughts on Huawei’s phones? Do you think they should be at the top? Or do you feel someone else should be there? Do let us know.
