With Samsung still the biggest smartphone brand for some time now (except for a few months here and there), second place has always belonged to Apple and its iPhones. But for two months straight now (and a possible 3rd), Chinese brand Huawei has surpassed the American brand and has now become the second biggest brand globally. But the real challenge, for Huawei and the other brands as well, would be when Apple finally releases their new iPhone sometime in the next few months.
August sales for Huawei are looking good as well so we might see them continue their second place streak until August. According to Counterpoint, which released the numbers, Research Director Peter Richardson, the secret to the Chinese brand’s continuing global growth is their investment in R&D and manufacturing, plus a pretty aggressive marketing and sales channel expansion. They are particularly strong in their home Chinese market and other operator-centric markets like Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. But they will need to work on their Indian, South Asian, and North American market if they want to continue this upward trend.
Chinese smartphone brands, in general, have been enjoying a good past couple of years as they have continued to dominate key markets like China (obviously), Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Their growth has made it difficult for more established brands like Samsung and Apple to have prospects in those regions. Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi have actually been able to establish partnerships with key supply chain partners and so they are able to bring things like bezel-free designs, full displays, Augmented Reality, in-house chipsets, advanced camera features, etc. And they offer it a relatively less expensive price.
Whether or not Huawei will be able to hold on to second place is also dependent on how well the upcoming iPhone 8 will be received by the public. But for now, the Chinese brand will probably stay in second this August.
SOURCE: Counterpoint Research
