A recent Canalys study reveals that Huawei was first named the world’s largest smartphone player in the second quarter.
Many revenues come from China because of the US sanctions, as its foreign sector suffers.
According to the research organization, the Chinese manufacturer has shipped 55.8 million goods 5 percent year on year. In the meantime, Samsung delivered 53.7 million smartphones, down from the same period last year, by 30 percent.
Huawei has taken the top spot for the first time in a century, and for several years it has had an ambition.
Yet critics doubt whether that is sustainable considering the fact that U.S. sanctions against Huawei have limited Huawei’s international markets outside China.
In the second quarter, Huawei sold more than 70 per cent of its smartphones in mainland China. Meanwhile, smartphone shipments in foreign markets plummeted from April to June quarter to 27 per cent year-on-year.
According to Counterpoint Research, the smartphone market share of the firm in Europe, a crucial area for Huawei, dropped dramatically to 16 per cent in the second quarter from 22 per cent in the same timeframe in 2019. The company is behind Samsung and Apple, the world’s third largest smartphone firm in Europe, showing that Huawei was focused on its efforts to grow its share of China, the second-biggest world economy, in the second quarter.
In light of Chinese consumers, success also leads to a big “economic” market share for companies.
“It will be hard for Huawei to maintain its lead in the long term,” Mo Jia, analyst at Canalys, said in a press release. “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.”
“Strength in China alone will not be enough to sustain Huawei at the top once the global economy starts to recover,” he added.
Huawei was listed on the USA last year. A blacklist that limited access to U.S. technology. That meant Huawei was unable on its most recent flagships to use certified Google Android.
It’s not so much that Chinese users are not used to using such apps, in China, where Google services like Gmail or its search engine are blocked. Yet Google is not a big hit in foreign markets.
That’s one explanation why the market share of Huawei’s rivals, who are still able to use Android on their smartphones, has risen. For example, in Europe, according to Counterpoint Research, Chinese firm Xiaomi saw its market share rise from 6 per cent in the second quarter of 2019 to 13 per cent in the same period this year.
Huawei was forced last year to introduce its own operating system known as HarmonyOS. Yet critics have previously cast doubt on its performance in foreign markets, considering that the App Store lacks key features.
The Chinese telecommunications giant has faced increased scrutiny from Washington this year. A new law adopted in May allows international suppliers to obtain a license using U.S. chipmaking equipment, before selling semiconductors to Huawei.
This could affect the ability of Huawei to procure chips for its smartphones. Although Huawei designs its own processors, Taiwan’s TSMC is manufacturing them which could be influenced by this law.