Global production drop could help Huawei to become the world's second largest smartphone maker

While 2018 could be considered a good year for the mobile industry overall, 2019 might not be good at all. The 3.3 percent decrease expected by TrendForce could go as far as 5 percent if the demand proves to be even worse than anticipated and if the US-China trade war continues. For Huawei, on the other side, this global trend could turn into a minor victory.

The aforementioned market report claims that "Samsung would remain the market leader, while Huawei is expected to surpass Apple to become the world's second largest smartphone maker. Apple would then take the third place." There are also some interesting numbers revealed by TrendForce, such as Samsung's 293 million smartphones made in 2018 — a YoY decline of no less than 8 percent. However, the South Korean giant is expected to keep its leading position, with a market share of around 20 percent.

Moving on, we encounter Huawei, with 205 million units shipped last year, but a solid YoY increase of 30 percent. Finally, Apple's production declined by 3 percent in 2018, and the recent iPhone sales bans are not helping, either. In the end, Apple's market share could hit a low point of 13 percent and 189 million units by the end of this year.

Considering all the above, it would be a natural move to see Huawei as the world's second largest smartphone maker at the end of 2019. In the long run, Apple might have to face the Chinese wonder trio (Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo), which had a global combined market share of more than 15 percent in 2018.