Smartphone sales grow by 9.7%

Much of Huawei’s smartphone growth has been driven by Western Europe and China, but the USA has eluded the company until now. Apple takes home around 91pc of all profit in the mobile industry, according to research firm Canaccord Genuity, while Samsung’s share is around 14pc (their combined total adds up to over 100pc because other players – such as HTC, Sony and Microsoft – are operating at a loss). Consumer privacy is key for smartphone makers, Richard Yu, the chief executive officer of Huawei’s fast-growing consumer devices division, told Bloomberg at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Sunday. Global smartphone sales came in at 403 million units, up 9.7 percent y/y, according to Gartner. This could be the attempt of the Huawei brand to start the competition early of this year among its closest competitiors Samsung and Apple. Huawei has had a mixed relationship with the USA market and was effectively banned due to concerns about cybersecurity.

Recently, the company has dipped its toes back into the USA market, by manufacturing Google’s Nexus 6P device.

Huawei is now the largest vendor in China but is still currently ranked number three globally behind Apple and Samsung. Huawei’s support for Apple assumes significance not only because the Chinese tech company is the third largest smartphone maker in the world, after Samsung and Apple, but also because it is an indication that all smartphone makers worldwide are determined to resist all incursions by governments across the world, even in cases involving suspected terrorists. It is a marked difference, compared to just three or four years ago, when a dominant proportion of Koreans shunned Chinese IT products. We’re starting to use our smartphones more and more to make purchases, but that’s only the beginning… They say the Chinese devices are highly cost-effective, and express satisfaction when considering their relatively cheap price tags. Little-known brands TCL and OPPO are also taking a good slice of the market. Its initial sales in Korea were blocked early this year through the controversial suspension of its sales agent.