Huawei becomes 3rd largest mobile phone vendor

There hasn’t been a ton of growth in the mobile phone market over the last year – just a 2 percent year-over-year bump to reach 435 million units in the second quarter of 2015, according to data provided by Strategy Analytics. This record easily placed Huawei trailing behind Samsung and Apple when it comes to being the most popular smartphone in the world. Microsoft shipped 27.8 million units and captured a 6% market share. The second quarter has proven to be quite beneficial for Microsoft’s competitor as it saw a 7 percent market share rise during this period.

“Xiaomi has good distribution channels and competitive pricing in its large home market of China, enabling it to stay in front of Lenovo-Motorola, (which) is struggling with the transition from 3G to 4G smartphones in China and the U.S.”, Oh said.

Samsung, Apple, Huawei, Microsoft and Xiaomi are the top 5 phone makers in Q2 2015, said Strategy Analytics. The growth is also caused by the increased demand of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in China.

The software giant acquired Nokia Corporation’s (NYSE:NOK) handset unit in a $7.2 billion deal past year.

In overall mobile phone market share, Samsung still claims the number one spot with 20 percent, followed by Apple at 11 percent. For the first time ever, Huawei became the third largest mobile phone vendor, overtaking a falling Microsoft who finds itself in limbo until Windows 10 Mobile arrives later this year.

As analyst Linda Sui with the firm puts it, “Smartphone growth is slowing due to increasing penetration maturity in major markets of the US, Europe and China”.

The Strategy Analytics report showed Xiaomi has enjoyed some growth during the expansion. Samsung does not break out individual numbers for its smartphone and tablets sales.

Part of the problem is the company keeps losing ground on the feature phone front, while its Lumia smartphone portfolio is in a holding pattern awaiting the launch of new Windows 10 models later this year, he said. The company’s total market share of handsets fell by almost half while Huawei’s rose to surpass Microsoft’s share. It remains to be seen if Microsoft can pull it back together in the following months.