Chinese Huawei became the world's leading seller of smartphones in the second quarter, dethroning South Korean Samsung, according to data compiled by research firm Canalys. Despite US sanctions targeting the Chinese group, Huawei sold 55.8 million phones in the second quarter (-5% over one year) against 53.7 million for Samsung (-30% over one year).
Huawei, also the world leader in equipment for 5G technology, was blacklisted last year by Washington, which suspects the potential spy group for the benefit of Beijing. US companies can in theory no longer sell equipment to Huawei - but waivers have been granted to limit the impact on companies in the US.
"Huawei has taken full advantage of the economic recovery in China"
"This is a remarkable result that few people would have predicted a year ago," said Ben Stanton, Canalys analyst. "Huawei has taken full advantage of the economic recovery in China to relaunch its activity in the field of smartphones," he said.
Samsung has very little presence in China, with less than 1% market share. And its main markets such as Brazil, India, the United States and Europe, have been strongly affected by the pandemic, underlines Canalys. “Huawei has shown exceptional resilience in these difficult times,” said the firm from Shenzhen (southern China) in a statement.