Huawei has surpassed Apple to become the world’s second largest smartphone maker. It’s the first time since 2010 that Apple has not been ranked number one or two. Huawei’s biggest challenge in the US and Australian markets remains its connections to the Chinese government. Huawei has surpassed Apple to become the world’s second largest smartphone maker. It’s the first time in eight years that the US tech giant has not been the number one or two smartphone company in terms of market share. According to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC), Huawei delivered shipments of 54.2 million units to move into the second position with a record high market share of 15.8%. Samsung maintained its lead, although IDC suggests indications from its recent earnings call could see mobile division revenues face challenges moving forward. The Chinese smartphone maker’s continued growth is impressive, considering it’s largely locked out of the US market, and up until recently has been a somewhat unknown mobile brand. Although that reign may be short-lived. “It is worth noting that Apple moved into the top position each of the last two holiday quarters following its product refresh, so it’s likely we’ll see continued movement among the top ranked companies in 2018 and beyond,” said Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. That doesn’t mean, however, that the pressure on market leaders will fade. If anything, smaller players like Xiaomi are increasingly positioning themselves as competitors. “For most markets, the ultra-high end ($700+) competition is largely some combination of Apple, Samsung, and Huawei, depending on the geography, and this is unlikely to change much in the short term,” Reith said. "At the same time, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo are all slowly pushing their customer base upstream at a price tier slightly lower than the top three." “This is an area they should all watch closely as the builds in this segment are getting increasingly more advanced.” A major challenge facing Huawei is its connections to the Chinese government. Intelligence officials in Australia and the US have repeatedly raised concerns about whether data stored on the company’s devices and networks might be accessed by government agents. And both country’s defence departments don’t allow personnel to use the company’s phones. Huawei is currently trying to convince the Australian government it can be trusted to build and manage the next major roll-out of the country’s wireless infrastructure.<doc-sep>With 54.2 million smartphones shipped in the second calendar quarter of 2018, Chinese smartphone company Huawei has surpassed Apple to become the number two worldwide smartphone vendor, according to new data shared today by IDC. During the quarter, which includes data from April to June, Apple shipped 41.3 million iPhones worldwide, a number that it shared earlier today with its earnings release for its third fiscal quarter. In the year-ago quarter, Apple shipped 41 million iPhones, marking just a small increase in shipments this year. According to IDC, Apple's share of the smartphone market for the quarter was 12.1 percent, compared to Huawei's 15.8 percent. Huawei saw 41 percent year-over-year growth in market share with an increase of 15.7 million smartphones shipped in Q2 2018 compared to Q2 2017. Samsung continues to be the number one smartphone vendor with 71.5 million smartphones shipped and 20.9 percent of the market, with Xiaomi and OPPO trailing after Apple and Huawei with 31.9 and 29.4 million smartphones shipped, respectively. Canalys, Strategy Analytics, and IHS Market have also published data agreeing with IDC's assessment of the smartphone market. In total, IDC says there were 342 million smartphones shipped during the second quarter of 2018, a 1.8 percent decline from the 348.2 million smartphones shipped during the second quarter of 2017. While Apple's iPhone shipments were largely stagnant year-over-year, the higher average selling price it achieved with the iPhone X resulted in an impressive 20 percent increase in revenue and iPhone earnings of nearly $30 billion. IDC's numbers look only at total number of smartphones shipped, with Huawei seeing major growth in the $600 to $800 segment thanks to the P20 and P20 Pro series. We are likely to see shifts in these smartphone vendor rankings over the course of the next few quarters as this is Apple's weakest quarter. At this point, Apple's flagship iPhones are several months old, which always results in a slowdown in sales. After new devices are released in the fall, Apple will see much stronger shipment numbers during the fiscal fourth quarter of 2018 and first fiscal quarter of 2019. Apple dropped to the third spot for the first time despite its second quarter growth. Apple shipped 41.3 million iPhones, representing modest growth of 0.7% over the 41.0 million units shipped last year. The iPhone continued to perform well at the high end as the iPhone X remains a top seller in many markets. Apple will look to regain control of the market this fall with the expected launch of three next generations of iPhone models. The new models are rumored to bring different screens sizes, price points, increased performance, and new features to the table when they arrive next quarter. Rumors suggest Apple plans to better compete in the mid-priced smartphone market in late 2018 and 2019 with a lower-priced 6.1-inch feature-rich iPhone that offers Face ID, an edge-to-edge display, and the same fast processor as the company's more expensive OLED models.<doc-sep>
Despite Apple’s big rally on Wednesday after a strong third-quarter report, with shares hitting the $200 mark and the company inching closer to becoming the first trillion-dollar company, the tech giant is losing its sales luster to a Chinese smartphone maker. Shenzhen-based Huawei has officially surpassed Apple in smartphone sales last quarter, making it the world’s second-largest vendor behind South Korea’s Samsung, according to research firms IDC, Canalys and IHS Markit. According to Canalys’ data, Huawei shipped 54.2 million handsets last quarter, which is up 41% year-over-year. The firm said the uptick is partly due to its strong sales of its latest flagship phone, the P20, and its Honor sub-brand model, which accounted for two thirds of its $16 million revenue jump in the last quarter. “Samsung remained the top vendor in Q2, but felt the impact of Huawei and others, slipping 8% to 73 million shipments. Apple fell to third, shipping 41 million iPhones, a 1% year-on-year growth,” the Singapore-based research firm said. In IDC’s latest report, the firm said that while the overall market shrank by 1.8% in the second quarter, the biggest surprise by far was that Huawei now has a 15.8% market share with its 54.2 million smartphone shipment in the quarter. "The continued growth of Huawei is impressive, to say the least, as is its ability to move into markets where, until recently, the brand was largely unknown," Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers, said. But Reith adds that it is worth noting that, “Apple moved into the top position each of the last two holiday quarters following its product refresh, so it's likely we'll see continued movement among the top-ranked companies in 2018 and beyond,” he said. While Huawei has leaped into second place, the Chinese smartphone and telecom maker has struggled to gain traction in the U.S. due to concerns that its technology could be used by the Chinese government to gather intelligence. However, the company has repeatedly denied that its products pose any security risks. In January, Huawei failed to clinch a smartphone deal with AT&T to start selling its smartphones in the U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal. After the deal fell through, Huawei’s head of consumer business told the South China Morning Post that, “we have been harmed again.”