Huawei has now pipped Apple to become the world’s second best selling smartphone manufacturer.
According to the latest global smartphone shipment data from analyst firms, Samsung remained at the top of the table, shipping close to 300 million devices last year. Huawei recorded shipments of around 240 million devices, with Apple slipping to third after seeing close to 200 million devices shipped globally.
Xiaomi, with close to 125 million shipments, stands at the fourth place and is closely followed by OPPO with just over 120 million devices shipped in 2019.
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Huawei improved its numbers by over 17% in 2019 compared to the previous year and was the biggest gainer last year. Data shows that strong performance in the domestic Chinese market, accounting for over 60% of total sales, was the main reason behind this growth.
What makes this more impressive is the fact that the Chinese company is facing a huge push back from the US and can only sell Android smartphones without the regular Google suite of apps and services.
Analysts at the start of 2019 had predicted that Huawei may soon outnumber Samsung, which could’ve become a reality had the US not imposed trade restrictions on the company.
On the other hand, Apple, in Q4 right after the launch of its iPhone 11 series, staged a fightback. If only the Q4 results are to be seen, Apple outdid all the brands including Samsung and Huawei and sold over 70 million handsets. During the same period, Samsung and Huawei shipped around 68.8 million and 56 million handsets, respectively.
These numbers are bound to change again as Samsung is expected to bounce back with the impending launch of its flagship S20 series in February while Huawei is also expected to announce its P40 series soon. Both companies also have an advantage in their domestic markets. Interestingly, Apple is also rumoured to launch the iPhone SE 2 around the same time.
Xiaomi and OPPO registered around 4% growth each in 2019, however, as the analysts had earlier predicted the overall smartphone shipments dipped in 2019 when compared to the previous year. This is the second year in a row when the market has experienced a negative growth according to Counterpoint research.
The Chinese smartphone market is expected to face a decline in 2020 and with the Coronavirus turning into a global emergency, the focus will again shift towards emerging markets like India and Africa.
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Via The Verge
