Beijing, July 30 (EFE) – According to a report published today by market analysis firm Canalys, Chinese technology company Huawei is the world’s largest smartphone seller for the first time in the second quarter of 2020.
The company saw year-on-year sales fall by 5% to 55.8 million units, but the performance of its direct competitor Samsung was worse: the South Korean conglomerate sold 53.7 million units, 30% less than in the same period in 2019.
According to Canalys estimates, Huawei was the first company to break the Apple-Samsung duopoly at the top of the global smartphone manufacturers.
And while this success is directly related to the fall of the South Korean competitor, it is due to the support he receives in the Chinese market.
The US sanctions against the company and the international campaign that Washington has launched to convince its partners that Huawei has dangerous connections to the Chinese secret service have hindered his foreign sales, which fell by 27% between April and June.
During this period, however, Huawei sold 8% more in China, where it already controls more than 70% of the smartphone market share.
“This is a remarkable result that few would have predicted a year ago,” says Canalys analyst Ben Stanton, who attributes it to the COVID 19 pandemic: “Huawei has taken full advantage of China’s economic recovery to revive its smartphone business.
Samsung’s presence in China is minimal, with a market share of less than 1%, while the economy has been or continues to be severely affected by breakouts and lockouts in some of its key destinations, such as Brazil, India, the United States, and Europe.
Another analyst of the company, Mo Jia, asserts that “it is very important for Huawei to get the first place”, as this way he can “show the strength of his brand”, although he predicts that it will be difficult for him to consolidate in this position.
“His main distributors in key regions such as Europe are increasingly suspicious of Huawei’s various devices, ordering fewer models and introducing other new brands to reduce risk,” he says.
It should also be remembered that one of the effects of the US sanctions against Huawei is the loss of access to Google services such as the Android operating system, which is now the standard for smartphone manufacturers, forcing Huawei to develop its own environment called Harmony OS.
According to Mo, the success of Chinese technology is therefore only an indication: “China’s strength alone will not be enough to keep Huawei at the top once the global economy begins to recover.