Huawei has had a rough year with all the issues it has with the US government. Even with that, the company seems to be going well according to the latest figures from Canalys.
Even with the US fiasco and the current pandemic, Huawei’s smartphone division did well during Q2 of 2020 as the company emerged the top smartphone manufacturer during that period. During the said period, Huawei shipped 55.8 million phones which puts the company ahead of Samsung which shipped 53.7 million phones.
Most of the shipments were made to China which has already recovered from the pandemic as compared to other markets. China accounts to over 70% of all the company’s shipments which is what gave it an edge over Samsung. Samsung saw most of its key markets disrupted by the pandemic and this is evident with its year over year sales numbers that dropped by 30%.
“This is a remarkable result that few people would have predicted a year ago,” said Canalys Senior Analyst Ben Stanton. “If it wasn’t for COVID-19, it wouldn’t have happened. Huawei has taken full advantage of the Chinese economic recovery to reignite its smartphone business. Samsung has a very small presence in China, with less than 1% market share, and has seen its core markets, such as Brazil, India, the United States and Europe, ravaged by outbreaks and subsequent lockdowns.”
It is unclear if Huawei will be able to maintain this lead post pandemic as it will still not have an easier time thanks to the current US ban. The company has been actively releasing devices even with the ban and we have seen some of them in Kenya with the latest one being the Huawei Y8p.
According to Canalys, other Chinese manufacturers can use the situation to their advantage and conquer international markets.
