Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd, the second largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, is now the world's second-biggest selling smartphone brand.
The latest data from global research and advisory firm Gartner, Inc. shows Huawei overtaking Apple in global smartphone sales during the second quarter of the year. Huawei took a 13.3 percent share of the global smartphone market, selling some 49.8 million phones, an increase of 9.8 percent year-on-year. Huawei's smartphone sales grew 38.6 percent in the second quarter, according to Gartner data.
Gartner research director Anshul Gupta believes Huawei continues to bring innovative features to its smartphone. Huawei is also expanding its smartphone portfolio to cover larger consumer segments. He said Huawei's investment in channels, brand building and positioning of its Honor phones helped drive sales. Huawei's Honor smartphones are available in 70 markets worldwide and this model is emerging as Huawei's key growth driver.
Apple's market share stood at 11.9 percent, down from 12.1 percent from the comparable period in 2017. Apple sold some 44.7 million iPhones in the second quarter. The quarter ended flat for Apple, whose sales grew a scant 0.9% percent. Apple is also facing growing competition from Chinese brands.
This development is increasing the pressure on Apple to innovate its handsets. Apple is being forced to do this to keep increasingly demanding consumers happy by delivering enhanced value in exchange for the iPhone's expensive price.
On the other hand, Samsung remained the world's best selling smartphone brand in the second quarter. Its phone sales jumped 19.3 percent year-on-year to 72.3 million phones sold. Gartner said Samsung lost market share year-over-year and fell 12.7 percent in the quarter.
Samsung is being pressured by growing competition from Chinese manufacturers. Another piece of bad news for Samsung is the slowdown in demand for its flagship phones, which is reducing its profitability.
Fourth place went to Xiaomi Corporation, which sold some 32.8 million phones for an 8.8 percent market share. This was an increase from 5.8 percent in the year-ago quarter.
Worldwide sales of smartphones to end users grew two percent in the second quarter to reach 374 million units. Smartphone sales globally are cooling down as users avoid changing their models annually due to rising phone prices. Markets are also becoming increasingly saturated.
Google's Android operating system further widened its lead over Apple's iOS in Q2, securing an 88 percent market share as against the 11.9 percent market share for iOS.
