Huawei becomes second largest smartphone brand, overthrowing Apple

Smartphone manufacturer Huawei is already making good on its claims that it can beat industry leaders, with the company having overtaken Apple in terms of sales. This places the Chinese firm as the world’s second largest smartphone brand behind Samsung.

Three days ago, Huawei announced that it could beat Samsung and Apple with its new Kirin 970 chip which is due to make an appearance in the upcoming Mate 10 and 10 Pro. But even before these devices have made it to market, the manufacturer has managed to outsell Apple in both June and July according to Counterpoint Research.

Peter Richardson, director of Counterpoint Research notes “This is a significant milestone for Huawei, the largest Chinese smartphone brand with a growing global presence. It speaks volumes for this primarily network infrastructure vendor on how far it has grown in the consumer mobile handset space in the last three to four years. The global scale Huawei has been able to achieve can be attributed to its consistent investment in R&D and manufacturing, coupled with aggressive marketing and sales channel expansion.”

It seems like this is but a temporary setback for Apple, with the company predicted to return to the higher spots when it unveils its iPhone 8 next week. This new flagship is expected to join its predecessor in taking the top spot of the world’s best-selling smartphones.

Counterpoint has tracked these overall handheld sales, with senior analyst Pavel Naiya commenting his shock at Huawei’s performance in light of its recent feat.

“While Huawei climbed to be the world's second largest brand overall, it is surprising to see none of its models breaking into the top ten rankings. This is due to a multiple SKU portfolio that currently lacks a true hero device. While having a diverse portfolio allows Huawei to fight on multiple fronts, it does little to build overall brand recognition; something Huawei badly needs if it is to continue to gain share.”

KitGuru Says: While this victory might be momentary, it’s good to see the company making some headway on its claims, boding well for what’s to come. I’ve never owned a Huawei device but always been amazed at how quickly they came into prominence. Do you own a Huawei smartphone? Are you planning on bagging a Mate 10 or 10 Pro?

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