Huawei overtakes Apple for No. 2 global smartphone maker spot

The latest research from Counterpoint on global smartphone sales shows that Chinese smartphone maker Huawei has overtaken Apple to be the second most popular smartphone maker by sales volume. It achieved this milestone for the first time in June, and then repeated the feat in July. Early data for August also suggests that Huawei is on track to outsell Apple’s iPhones for a third consecutive month as well.

According to Counterpoint’s Research Director Peter Richardson, Huawei has been able to reach this milestone by rapidly growing its customer base in China in particular over the past three to four years. It has also invested heavily in its R&D and manufacturing which, when coupled with its marketing and sales channel expansion, has allowed it to scale rapidly over this period.

Richardson cautions that with Apple’s annual iPhone refresh looming, it is possible that Huawei could find itself back in third place once again. If it is to maintain second position behind Samsung in the short to medium-term, Richardson says that Huawei will need to boost its presence in the key North American, South Asian and Indian markets. 

The best-selling smartphone globally remains Apple’s iPhone 7 and 7 Plus models. This was followed by the Oppo R11 and A 57 models. The fifth most popular smartphone is Samsung’s Galaxy S8, followed by the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X and Samsung Galaxy S8+. The 32 GB refresh of the iPhone 6 pushed back into the number 9 position while the Galaxy J7 rounded out the top 10.

Although yet to make a top 10 selling smartphone, Huawei was able to take second place overall thanks to its expansive overall portfolio.

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