Looks like even the launch of Apple’s newest models iPhone 8 and iPhone X which costs almost double China’s average monthly salary could not beat Huawei’s global ascendance. Local media has called the event the worst iPhone launch date in history. After one month on the market, iPhone 8 and 8 Plus sales are not only below iPhone7 and 7plus, they are even lower than 6S/7plus, according to data cited by Lieyunwang (in Chinese). Numbers show that shipments have been cut by 50% because of dismal sales.
On the other hand, Chinese leading smartphone maker Huawei has released its newest sales figures showing that it shipped over 112 million phones in the first three quarters of this year, a 20 percent increase from the previous year. The company’s shipments rose 19 percent while its revenue soared by 30 percent. Global shipments of Huawei Mate 9 series have exceeded 10 million units
Huawei has overtaken Apple in global smartphone sales since June to become the world’s second-largest smartphone brand, next only to Samsung, according to a report by consulting firm Counterpoint Research.
In the first half of 2017, Huawei has increased mobile phone shipments to Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea increased by more than 45% while shipments in Europe increased by 18% year-on-year. According to reports, Huawei will try to crack the US market beginning with 2018. To win western markets, the company has been investing heavily into R&D and shifting to high-end products while cutting the proportion of low to mid-end phones.
The progress is impressive considering that 5 years ago, Huawei had less than a 1% share of global mobile phone sales. In 2016, Huawei’s share in the global smartphone market increased from 7.3% in 2015 to 8.9%, while Apple’s market share fell from 15.9% in 2015 to 14.4%, according to data from Gartner.