Huawei has emerged as the second largest smartphone manufacturer in the world for the first time, beating Apple in the process. This comes on the back of a robust growth in smartphone sales for the Chinese manufacturer which stands at more than 200 million units shipped worldwide.
This again comes to a growth of 30 percent compared to what it sold in 2017 given that the company had sold 153 million smartphones in 2017. Huawei’s growth in 2018 can be attributed to the company’s increased foray in the African and European markets. Coupled to that is Huawei’s continued growth in its usual stronghold of China, India and other Asian market. In fact, Huawei had overtaken Apple in Q2, 2018 itself to become the second largest smartphone maker.
Huawei’s latest launches such as the Mate 20 Pro with triple rear cams has also gone for a lot of critical acclaims and is well received in the market. That apart, the company has also been at the forefront of introducing the latest innovations in its smartphones which includes the likes of an under display fingerprint scanner. The new Nova 4 launched recently is also unique in that it features a punch hole display for the front-facing camera. The company also said its Honor 10 and Mat 20 series phones have also been a hit worldwide.
However, Huawei’s success might be short-lived in that the company has come to be perceived with suspicion as well. The company is also accused to be into practicing unfair means for stealing sensitive data, which is also the reason the company is also backlisted by several countries the world over. The UK, New Zealand, and Australia have all banned Huawei for procuring its stuff for their upcoming 5G mobile network requirements.
The list also, of course, includes the US which has already been engaged in a trade war with China. Worth mentioning, one of Huawei’s top executives was also arrested in Canada and was extradited to the US on charges of helping Iran in spite of the US having imposed sanctions on the Asian country.
Meanwhile, Apple too is believed to be facing challenging times what with its latest iPhone devices seeming failing to make it big. The company is also engaged in a tiff with Qualcomm, and it will be interesting to see what comes of it in the long run. Samsung with over 300 million units sold in 2018 seems well placed to hold on to the top slot next year as well though smartphone sales the world over is expected to remain flat.
