Huawei did just enough to push itself and overtake Apple in terms of global smartphone shipments, allowing them to exceed the Cupertino company for the second quarter of 2018. Samsung still tops in the segment, owning a 20.9-percent market share as of Q2.
The latest numbers from the IDC, Canalys and Strategy Analytics reveal that Huawei has shipped more than 54 million devices for the second quarter alone. Apple, on the other hand, shipped 41.3 million iPhones while Samsung shipped over 73 million units.
With the 54-million shipped units, Huawei now holds a 15.8-percent share, a new milestone for the China-based company. Apple remains in striking distance with 12.1-percent of the market while Xiaomi follows with an 8.6-percent market share.
Huawei’s shipments grew by 40-percent year-on-year, part of which is credited to their sub-brand Honor which accounted for two-thirds of the 16-million jump registered. Aside from that, there was also the debut of the P20 Series which ended up getting high demands in the $600-$800 price category.
Offering new technology such as the GPU Turbo likewise helped catapult Huawei with more expected to follow. Looking ahead, it will be interesting if the latest figures are temporary considering Apple is set to release its new batch of iPhones in the coming months.
Samsung may be not within reach although the Korean company has not exactly performed well. In fact, they saw a 10.4-percent decline in shipments with their S9 and S9+ flagships low sales. A reason singled out for this is the rising competition in the smartphone market, offering consumers multiple options depending on their preference.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is expected to be launched on Aug. 9 although there is growing skepticism on whether the phablet can improve Samsung sales. Like Apple, the pricing matrix is a significant factor and believed to be one reason why some have shifted their attention to cheaper alternatives offering similar, if not better, specs.
In all, the recent figures don’t mean that Apple and Samsung are performing poorly, notes Tech Crunch. The reality of it all is that ambitious brands like Huawei, Vivo, and Oppo have started to gain ground and reap dividends on their products.
Apple remains a favorite brand, but the outrageous pricing for its flagships have expectedly affected the demand for their brand. They are not expected to bend and tweak prices to appease the market.
The same holds true for Samsung although the Korean giant has been expanding by offering lower-tier devices in other categories. It remains to be seen if these ploys would be enough to alter their sales performance, much of which should be seen in the latter half of 2018.
