Huawei overtook Samsung and Apple in device shipments for Q2 2020

Valentine Muhamba Avatar
huawei Zimbabwe, Seeds for the Future

Huawei has suffered some very serious setbacks over the last couple of years. The Chinese smartphone was banned from trading in the United States, and also lost support to Google Services. These two things would have, at the time, spelt a certain downturn for Huawei.

Well, it seems that they have yet another first to add to surpassing Samsung in sales in Q1. According to Canalys, Huawei ended Q2 as the smartphone maker with the most device shipments. This is the first time in nine years that Samsung or Apple haven’t led this category.

The numbers

Huawei were able to ship 55.8 million devices in Q2, Samsung were not too far behind with 53.7 million devices shipped. The fall for Samsung is far more substantial because it marks a 30% fall when compared with Q2 2019.

The question “How were Huawei able to achieve this?” follows along the same lines as their marginal lead in Q1 market share. Huawei have lost significant ground when it comes to overseas markets. Their overseas shipments fell by 27% in Q2. However, they boosted their domestic sales by 8% in Q2. Huawei now sells 70% of their smartphones in mainland China.

It is also worth noting that China emerged more quickly out of the coronavirus pandemic than other countries. They were able to get the ball rolling while other manufacturers had to scale back or shut down entirely in order to adhere to public health guidelines.

“This is a remarkable result that few people would have predicted a year ago. If it wasn’t for COVID-19, it wouldn’t have happened. Huawei has taken full advantage of the Chinese economic recovery to reignite its smartphone business. Samsung has a very small presence in China, with less than 1% market share, and has seen its core markets, such as Brazil, India, the United States and Europe, ravaged by outbreaks and subsequent lockdowns.”

Ben Stanton, Canalys Senior Analyst

Huawei will be celebrating this for some time to come especially after everything that has happened in markets abroad. However, as much as this is a win for Huawei, it’s not sustainable. Their home market alone won’t keep them in this position. When countries come out of the pandemic things may return to the status quo of Samsung and Apple fighting it out for first place.

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