Huawei has been ambitious to become the number one smartphone seller by the end of the year. But that changed after the company run into problems with the US. Huawei’s CEO, Rhen Zhengfei, recently stated that they could still do it without Google. Stating that it will happen but they just need more time.
That vision may come to pass soon, however. According to a recent report from Strategy Analytics, Huawei is closing in on the gap between the number one smartphone seller Samsung in terms of market share.
Currently, Huawei ranks as the second-best smartphone seller while the South Korean tech giant – Samsung – is still at the top.
Strategy Analytics estimates that even though Samsung retains its number one spot, Huawei will narrow the gap further by the end of the year.
The market research firm says Samsung will finish as the leader in 2019, with an estimated market share of 21.3%, which represents an estimate of 323 million units. Huawei follows closely with an estimated market share of 17.7%, representing a total of 251 million units.
That is just a 3.6 percentage behind Samsung. In the real sense, however, Huawei needs to ship tens of millions of devices before it gets to Samsung.
In comparison, Samsung finished 2018 as the top smartphone seller with a 20.3 per cent market share. Huawei, on the other hand, commanded only 14.4 per cent of the market, claiming the second spot – 5.9 per cent behind Samsung.
As time passes by, Huawei is clearly closing in on the gap.
This year, Huawei has still been recording increased sales even after the US ban. Huawei’s strong sales in China linked to patriotism has been key to the success of its smartphone business.
Other smartphone companies like Samsung and Xiaomi have been having a rough time this year in the Chinese market, as a result.
Samsung has been seeing increased competition from Chinese companies who have gained popularity by launching cheaper devices.
Samsung is trying to blend in, introducing the Galaxy A series, which has been a success and a key contributor to the company’s success in the smartphone industry in 2019.
