The Chinese electronics manufacturer Huawei is selling more smartphones than Apple for the first time. In June and July, more devices were sold than the Californians report Analysts from Counterpoint Research. First place is still firmly in Korean hands.
Huawei is growing tremendously
The reason for the enormous increase in Huawei's sales lies in the marketing and product development of the Chinese. Since 2009, Huawei's R&D budget has increased from $1,92 billion to $11 billion in 2016. The annual sales of the Chinese increased, also from 2009, from 13,5 million to 70,5 million units in 2014. Meanwhile, Huawei is spending significantly more money than in the past. While sales grew almost six-fold from 2007 ($13,27bn) to 2016 ($75,1bn), profit rose only from $1,82bn to $5,34bn have increased costs significantly. And apparently with success. In recent years, Huawei has become a well-known manufacturer in Germany. It looks similar worldwide. Flagships like the Huawei P10 help to attract customers' attention.
No smartphone in the top 10
It is interesting, however, that in the ranking of the best-selling, also published by Counterpoint Smartphones no Huawei device can be found by model. Here Apple is still at the top with the iPhone 7 (4%) and the iPhone 7 Plus (2,9%). Market leader Samsung ranks fifth (8%) and seventh (8%) with the S1,8 and the S1,7 Plus. What does this mean for Huawei? Apparently, the sales of the Chinese are spread over significantly more models. When looking at the line up, it is noticeable that Huawei releases more smartphones than Samsung. This lacks the exact launch that the Koreans can show. A series for entry level, S series as primary model, Note series for enthusiasts. Huawei does not succeed in this classification to the same extent. It remains to be seen whether Huawei intends to further reduce its line up or whether it will continue to stick to the strategy that has been successful so far. But the fact is that the growth of the Chinese is impressive.
