Huawei’s phone sales grew big time as Apple and Samsung’s declined

Image: raymond wong / mashable

Even without selling phones in the U.S., Chinese tech titan Huawei is well on its way to becoming the world’s largest smartphone maker.

Huawei has now cemented itself as the world’s second-largest smartphone maker, bumping Apple to third place, according to IDC’s latest smartphone shipment report. Huawei’s next challenge is to topple Samsung.

Per IDC’s report, Huawei was the only smartphone company “at the top of the market” that saw phone shipments grow in the first quarter of 2019.

Huawei reportedly shipped 59.91 million smartphones in the first quarter of the year, an increase of 50.3 percent year-over-year. IDC attributes Huawei’s astronomical phone growth to a “well-rounded portfolio targeting all segments from low to high” in China. Additionally, the market analytics firm says Huawei’s high-end phones have helped create more brand allegiance for lower-priced devices.

In comparison, Apple and Samsung, both of which are now in third and first place, respectively, saw phone shipments decline.

According to IDC, Apple’s iPhone faced a 30.2 percent decline in year-over-year sales. The company shipping an estimated 36.4 million devices (this is an estimate as Apple no longer shares unit sales for its devices) in the first quarter of 2019. 

Meanwhile, Samsung also saw a dip in phone shipments. IDC says Samsung shipped about 71.9 million smartphones, an 8.1 percent decline year-over-year.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Apple and Samsung’s smartphone sales declined. Both Apple and Samsung warned investors of dipping smartphone sales due to a variety of reasons such as people holding onto their devices longer, trade tensions between the U.S. and China, and stiff competition from Chinese vendors.

For years, Chinese smartphone makers such as Huawei and Xiaomi and OnePlus have been creeping up on Samsung and Apple, but now it appears they could become a real threat soon.

While Samsung and Apple enjoy a loyal customer install base in the U.S., their grip on the market is quickly loosening as Chinese smartphone makers not only compete on design but leapfrog their latest phones with new flashy new innovations.

Huawei’s jump over Apple to become the world’s second largest smartphone maker didn’t happen overnight. In the last few years the company has aggressively released new smartphones with show-stopping features such as in-display fingerprint sensors and beefy camera systems with capabilities such as a 5x optical zoom enabled. For example, Huawei’s latest P30 Pro was well-received and puts the Galaxy S10, iPhone XS, and even the Google Pixel 3’s cameras to shame. 

Huawei’s explosive growth also comes at the expense of legacy phone makers who have repeatedly failed to release compelling new phones. Customers previously served by Sony, HTC, and LG are likely now looking to Huawei phones instead, either for their value or cutting-edge features.

The most impressive takeaway from IDC’s report isn’t that Huawei is now the second-largest smartphone vendor worldwide (the company previously claimed the title but only temporarily in August 2018) and is on its way to overtaking Samsung, but that it’s doing so without selling any of its smartphones in the U.S. (in any official capacity at least).

Huawei has been blackballed by the U.S. government since last year for its alleged ties to the Chinese government. The company was accused of using its smartphones to spy on Americans and the U.S. government has advised consumers against purchasing and using any of its devices; the heads of six U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA, FBI, and NSA, all rallied against Huawei’s devices, despite no evidence to suggest any espionage.

Now, imagine how large Huawei could be and how much more growth it could have if its phones weren’t essentially banned from sale and were allowed to be sold through U.S. carriers. But even without the U.S., Huawei’s smartphone growth looks likely to continue soaring. The company’s preparing to launch its first foldable phone, the Mate X, and numerous other 5G phones, all of which will likely further bolster sales. Unless Huawei screws up big time with its own exploding phone moment or Mate X’s also break, the company’s future looks pretty darn solid.