Huawei Overtakes Samsung in Global Smartphone Shipments for Second Quarter of 2020

Huawei has defied sanctions by the United States to become the biggest smartphone seller worldwide in the second quarter of 2020, overtaking Samsung.

According to a report by industry tracker and analytic firm, Canalys, on Thursday, this is the first time the Chinese company occupied the number one position, shipping 55.8 million devices as compared to Samsung’s 53.7 million devices.

Huawei’s figures were boosted by sales in its native China, accounting for 70% of the total sales. However, both Huawei and Samsung shipping dropped by 5% and 30% respectively compared with the same period last year, majorly because of the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canalys called the change “remarkable” due to the fact that it is the first time in nine years that neither Apple nor Samsung occupied the top of Canalys’ charts.

Analysts also point out Huawei’s success to the fact that China came out lockdown earlier than other countries. However, they cast doubts on the sustainability of the mobile company’s dominance, since overseas shipments recorded a 27 percent drop.

Additionally, Huawei phones also struggled to appeal to Western markets following the restrictions imposed by the US where the firm’s smartphones lack Google-made apps.

Mo Jia, an analyst at Canalys, observed that Huawei will struggle to remain top as “Strength in China alone will not be enough to sustain Huawei at the top once the global economy starts to recover.”

He adds that Huawei major partners in regions, such as Europe, are increasingly wary of ranging Huawei devices, taking on fewer models, and bringing in new brands to reduce risk.”

According to Counterpoint Research in Europe, the company’s smartphone market share declined sharply to 16% in the second quarter versus 22% in the same period in 2019.

Huawei is the third-largest smartphone maker in Europe behind Samsung and Apple.

“If it wasn’t for Covid-19, it wouldn’t have happened,” says Stanton from Canalys. “Huawei has taken full advantage of the Chinese economic recovery to reignite its smartphone business.”

Huawei responded by building its own app store solution, which The Register reports now has some 81,000 apps aimed at Westerners and more than 70 million European users.

But it is not clear how many of those users are people with access to the Google app store, and how many are using the Huawei App Gallery as their only source for new apps.

A spokesperson for Huawei, however, said the company “has demonstrated exceptional resilience in these difficult times.”

“Amidst a period of unprecedented global economic slowdown and challenges, we’ve continued to grow and further our leadership position by providing innovative products and experience to consumers,” he added.