Huawei Sold Almost Twice as Many Smartphones as Apple in Q1
- Paul Thurrott
- May 01, 2019
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56
The market researchers at IDC have weighed in on the struggling smartphone market, but one company saw a massive sales boost. Huawei is now closing in on Samsung for the top spot in the industry, and its first-quarter unit sales were almost double those of the distant number three, Apple.
“Huawei is laser-focused on growing its stature in the world of mobile devices, with smartphones being its lead horse,” IDC’s Ryan Reith says. “The overall smartphone market continues to be challenged in almost all areas, yet Huawei was able to grow shipments by 50 percent, not only signifying a clear number two in terms of market share but also closing the gap on the market leader Samsung. This new ranking of Samsung, Huawei, and Apple is very likely what we’ll see when 2019 is all said and done.”
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IDC reports that Huawei sold 59.1 million smartphones in the first quarter of 2019. (I’m still waiting on Gartner’s numbers to write up a general overview of the quarter.) This compares to 71.9 million units for Samsung, the current market leader, and 36.4 million units for Apple.
As noted, Huawei’s market share grew by 50 percent in the quarter. But Samsung’s sales declined by 8.1 percent, and Apple feel through the floor, by an incredible 30.2 percent.
A year ago, Huawei’s and Apple’s positions were basically reversed: In the first quarter of 2018, Apple was in second place with 52.2 million units sold and 15.7 percent market share. And Huawei was in third place with 39.3 million units sold and 11.8 percent market share.
What’s interesting about Huawei’s continued rise is that some other China-based smartphone makers, like Xiaomi and Oppo, have run into roadblocks: Each firm experienced year-over-year sales shortfalls, according to IDC, of 10.2 percent and 6, respectively. But another China-based handset maker, Vivo, saw sales rise 24 percent in the quarter.
“Huawei is now within striking distance of Samsung at the top of the global market,” IDC notes. “In China, Huawei continued its positive momentum with a well-rounded portfolio targeting all segments from low to high. Huawei’s high-end models continued to create a strong affiliation for the mid to low-end models, which are supporting the company’s overall shipment performance.”
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Conversation 56 comments
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PeterC
<p>If Huawei decided to ditch android, or offer an alternative to it, google would have serious trouble. If Samsung joined in too they would be stuffed…… like a turkey at Christmas, </p><p><br></p><p>Does anyone else think there maybe some western based PR campaign ongoing to try and smear Huawei as a brand? Anyone?</p><p><br></p><p>Huawei does have have its own OS people. How and when they implement it will be fascinating to watch. </p>
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PeterC
<blockquote><em><a href="#424812">In reply to wosully:</a></em></blockquote><p>Wosully. Maybe take a breath and think about what you just said. “ the US is against compromising our devices and spying against American citizens “. …. seriously mate. The NSA, CIA FBI etc and other us agencies do exactly that through android, windows prevelance. They also do it to everyone else. They spy on allies… remember spying on the German chancellor? Your government is pro actively abusing US tech software dominance to spy on everyone it can. Now they’re aggressively defending that position so they don’t lose that potential. Huawei is the latest in a long line.</p><p><br></p><p> I’ve no love for any country that abuses power China or US or Russia etc etc. It’s all politics and power obsessed nutters mate. East and West.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
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PeterC
<blockquote><em><a href="#425648">In reply to anderb:</a></em></blockquote><p>Windows mobile didn’t have a “home market users base” as high as China/ India/Asia does. It’s huge. Remember it’s easy to mistakenly just see a western perspective here. Huawei Already have a specific OS offering that meets their business needs prepared, works with EMUI, and technically they already have their own App Store in China as google play store is blocked…. </p>
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provision l-3
<p>Can't help but think that if Huawei were able to enter the U.S. market in a meaningful way they would quickly overtake Samsung. Not being being in the world's largest economy has to have some impact. </p>
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provision l-3
<blockquote><em><a href="#425196">In reply to jrickel96:</a></em></blockquote><p>In theory a company could be the largest smartphone maker in the world without being the best seller in any country. So calling out the order by a few counties is somewhat irrelevant. Not to mention you are ignore the vast population disparity of places like Japan and China. </p><p><br></p><p>Any, why do I think the US market matters and why do I think Huawei could take the lead?</p><p><br></p><p>Samsung sales are declining. </p><p>Huawei sales are growing. </p><p>The difference per IDC is 12 million units. </p><p>The US is the largest economy in the world and the largest or second largest buyer of smartphones. </p><p>I don't know that the US alone could cover the 12 million units but if Huawei could sell in a meaningful way in the US then it could put a huge dent in that number. </p><p>The rest would come from their current trajectory. </p><p><br></p>
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skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#425828">In reply to jrickel96:</a></em></blockquote><p>It occurred to me at first you were making a bold verifiable prediction but then I realized that "declines or flat sales" is exactly what the rest of the industry is experiencing now, so if Huawei experiences the same in the next year it will just mean they are competing equally with the competition rather than beating them. </p><p><br></p><p>Determining whether Huawei is "much of a factor" next year will be subjective judgement but I predict we will continue to hear positive things about Huawei in the market.</p>
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provision l-3
<blockquote><em><a href="#425828">In reply to jrickel96:</a></em></blockquote><p>I think I know where this is getting confused. When I said that if Huawei could sell in the U.S. they would overtake Samsung I was simply talking about marketshare. Revenue is a totally different kettle of fish. </p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
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skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#424962">In reply to jrickel96:</a></em></blockquote><p>I think many iPhone users are entrenched but I don't think one can say the same thing about Samsung. Of course, you can buy a Samsung phone for under $100 so Samsung is not an exclusively a high-end smartphone maker the way that Apple primarily is. With the trend toward keeping smartphones longer we wouldn't expect a big flip toward Huawei to happen quickly. What's driving Huawei's growth is better price/performance and not even Apple is entirely immune from the effects.</p>
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skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#425194">In reply to jrickel96:</a></em></blockquote><p>The discussion is about sales, not about revenue.</p><p><br></p><p>It makes sense that Huawei would displace the minor players first, but there's no magic that will protect Apple and particularly Samsung from the reality of Huawei's better value proposition. Of course there is nothing preventing Apple or Samsung lowering prices to compensate.</p>
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skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#425827">In reply to jrickel96:</a></em></blockquote><p>"Un, sales is revenue"</p><p><br></p><p><em>Revenue </em>is the money that results from <em>sales</em>, but these terms obviously don't mean the same thing, which is why we use two words instead of one.</p><p><br></p><p>What the movie industry reports or thinks is important is entirely irrelevant to this conversation. The fact that tech companies (including Apple until very recently) report how many of a particular product is sold indicates that they have different figures of merit than does the movie business. </p><p><br></p><p>This is probably because buying a ticket for a movie is a transitory event while buying a technology product has the potential to create more revenue opportunities in the future. </p>
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skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#425967">In reply to jrickel96:</a></em></blockquote><p>"Sales figures always include revenue figures"</p><p>So what, pancakes usually include syrup but it doesn't make them the same thing. </p><p><br></p><p>BTW I worked in tech for over 30 years so your can't pull that "so I can tell you this" crap on me.</p><p><br></p><p>"So stop saying garbage about sales not being revenue. Revenue matters and NET profits matter even more."</p><p><br></p><p>Sorry that the facts about the difference between sales and revenue don't match your narrative. I never claimed that sales are more important than revenue but that seems to be the straw argument you wish to stick in my mouth. </p><p><br></p><p>It's rather absurd to claim that sales and revenue are the same thing and then go on to claim that revenue is more important.</p><p><br></p>
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provision l-3
<p>Totally unrelated to Huawei. Using IDC's numbers the average selling price of the iPhone jumped to $850 from $793. If accurate then the narrative that the higher pricing of the new iPhones caused iPhone sales to slip is demonstrably false. It is the cheaper phones that aren't selling as well. </p>
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provision l-3
<blockquote><em><a href="#425487">In reply to jrickel96:</a></em></blockquote><p>Okay, I'm simple minded. Please lay out the math/product mix where the best selling phone costs 599, the second best is 1099 and the third is 749 and you end up with an AP of 850? Because if the XS Max and 8 sold at a 1:1 you still would come up under the 850 number. Considering every other phone Apple sells costs less than the Max what you are describing is pretty much impossible. </p>
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provision l-3
<blockquote><em><a href="#425824">In reply to jrickel96:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Okay, so you are not going to provide the math/product mix to back your assertion. Noted. </p><p><br></p><p>I didn't forget about the 8 had a plus. You said "I have a feeling the iPhone 8 may be the top seller" So I used the iPhone 8 as the example not the plus. </p><p><br></p><p>"tell me how $850 isn't possible here"</p><p>I didn't say it was impossible. I said if the the ASP was 850 then the claim that the newer phones weren't selling well wasn't accurate. </p><p><br></p><p>What I suspect is actually the case is the ASP is lower than 850 and IDC got unit numbers wrong. </p>
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provision l-3
<blockquote><em><a href="#425966">In reply to jrickel96:</a></em></blockquote><p>Then you are agreeing with what I said in the first place. Which is for the the ASP to have a big jump year over year then the newer phones weren’t rejected on price. It would be the lower end where you see the drop off the iPhone 7/7+ and the markets that still sell the iPhone 6.</p>