Huawei vs. Apple: Chinese Company Beats Cupertino Giant In Global Smartphone Shipments

Apple is no longer the second largest smartphone vendor in the world. The title now belongs to Huawei who beat the Cupertino giant in terms of global smartphone shipments in the second quarter.

Market research firms IDC and Canalys revealed this week that Huawei outperformed Apple in terms of smartphone units shipped in the April-June period of 2018. This makes Huawei the second largest smartphone vendor after Samsung Electronics.

Huawei reportedly shipped 54.2 million phones in the second quarter, up by 41 percent than the previous year. The telecoms giant now has 16 percent of the global market, while Samsung has 21 percent. Apple, who is now the third biggest smartphone vendor, has 12 percent, as per Bloomberg.

Huawei’s jump to the second spot is a clear sign of the rise of Chinese manufacturers. Completing the top five vendors for the second quarter are Xiaomi and Oppo, who are also based in China. On the whole, Chinese firms are doing well because aside from their steady growth domestically, they are also expanding their reach to other parts of the world.

“The importance of Huawei overtaking Apple this quarter cannot be overstated,” Canalys senior analyst Ben Stanton said. “It is the first time in seven years that Samsung and Apple have not held the top two positions. Huawei’s exclusion from the U.S. has forced it to work harder in Asia and Europe to achieve its goals.”

Stanton also noted that Huawei’s growth should be a big concern for both Apple and Samsung. “Huawei’s momentum will obviously concern Samsung, but it should also serve as a warning to Apple, which needs to ship volume to support its growing services division. If Apple and Samsung want to maintain their market positions, they must make their portfolios more competitive.”

For now, Samsung continues to reign supreme after shipping 71.5 million units. Nonetheless, the South Korean tech giant did reveal lower than expected smartphone sales in the second quarter, proving that its Galaxy S9 series indeed failed to capture the attention of many consumers.

As for Apple, it did say that the previous period was its best June quarter ever after recording $53.3 billion in revenue and selling 41.3 million iPhones. The Cupertino giant’s surge in revenue was mainly thanks to the iPhone X, its most expensive handset ever that is also its best performer, according to AppleInsider.