Despite US woes, Huawei tipped to narrow Samsung's lead in phone shipments

Huawei started the year saying it planned to topple Samsung from being the largest smartphone vendor in the world. But then, the company was hit by a United States government ban that started in mid-May and continues to this day.

Despite the major setback, though, Huawei is tipped to remain in second place and manage to close the market-share gap with Samsung to 3.6%.

The Korean Herald reported new estimated data from market-research firm Strategy Analytics that show Huawei is closer to Samsung’s market share this year than last year. In 2018, the difference between Huawei and Samsung was 5.9%.

New estimated data from Strategy Analytics show Huawei has narrowed the market-share gap with Samsung in 2019 to 3.6%. In 2018, the difference between Huawei and Samsung was 5.9%

Strategy Analytics attributed the steady and robust growth to Huawei’s home country. In China, Huawei went from capturing 23% of the market in the third quarter of 2018 to 40% in the same period in 2019.

Huawei has heavily marketed itself in its homeland after it foresaw a slowdown in sales in Europe. The company has also significantly reduced its reliance on getting critical components from American companies. And it is working to develop HarmonyOS and Huawei Mobile Services.

According to Strategy Analytics’ estimates, Samsung shipped 323 million smartphone units in 2019 for 21.3% of the market share. Meanwhile, Huawei shipped 251 million units, which represents 17.7% of the market, up by 14.4% from last year.

Same as in 2018, Huawei is said to be still ahead of Apple. The U.S. company took the third spot and shipped around 193 million iPhones in 2019, giving Apple 13.6% of the market share. However, it still has higher revenue than Huawei.

Looking into the coming year, Strategy Analytics said Huawei will maintain its position as the second-largest smartphone vendor position in 2020 if the U.S.-China trade war and Huawei ban continues. And global smartphone shipment volume might be down by 3% next year, in the worst-case scenario.

The flip side is there could be a 3% year-on-year increase if the following conditions happen: “the likelihood of global economic recession remains low, the United States and China will sign a deal to ease the trade war, and the ban of Huawei will be lifted.”

Through the said scenarios, Strategy Analytics forecasted Samsung will still be the world’s largest smartphone vendor in 2020, trailed by Huawei and then Apple. Plus, the resurgence in its home market will offset the decline Huawei might experience in the overseas market. China alone could contribute to the manufacturer’s 80% volume share next year.

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Nicole Batac

Contributor: Nicole Batac spent the last 10 years as a consumer tech and lifestyle journalist and editor for print publications like Speed Magazine and 2nd Opinion Magazine and has had her work appear in other local publications. She now braves the world of freelance writing. In her free time, she obsessively listens to music, binge-watches shows on Netflix, eats well, and sleeps in.