For the first time in nine years, Chinese tech giant Huawei has surpassed South Korean behemoth Samsung in terms of global smartphone shipments. That’s according to a new report from market analysis firm Canalys.
As per the firm, Huawei shipped 55.8 million smartphones in the second quarter of this year. Samsung, on the other hand, came second with 53.7 million smartphone shipments. While Huawei witnessed a 5 percent year-over-year decline sales, Samsung had to face a 30 percent fall when compared to its figures in the same quarter last year.
The news might come as a surprise to many since the US’ ban on Huawei has still not been lifted, making the company’s products less appealing due to the lack of Google’s services despite having amazing hardware features, especially in the camera department.
However, the sales figures for Huawei phones in China are not showing any signs of slowing down, except for the industry-wide decline due to the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, Canalys says that Huawei now sells over 70 percent of its smartphones in mainland China.
“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,” says Canalys Senior Analyst Ben Stanton.
At its earnings call, Samsung said it expects better sales next quarter because of new flagship phone launches like the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Z Fold 2 5G. It will be interesting to see if Huawei manages to retain its position in the next quarter.
