Huawei has overtaken Microsoft as the world's third largest smartphone vendor in the second quarter of 2015 after earning a global market share of 7 percent.
In the second quarter of 2014, Huawei had a 4.8 percent global market share and ranked 4th against rival companies Samsung (1st), Apple (2nd) and Microsoft (3rd). The huge jump it made this year allowed it to land third in the rankings while Microsoft and Xiaomi trailed behind.
"Huawei is rising fast in all regions of the world, particularly China where its 4G models, such as the Mate7, are proving wildly popular," says Ken Hyers, director at Strategy Analytics.
The Ascend Mate 7 of Huawei was unveiled at the IFA 2014 in Berlin. It's a 6-inch Android KitKat device with a display resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and comes with a 13MP rear camera and 5MP front camera.
Earlier this year, the device reportedly earned a record of 2 million sales since its release in September.
Furthermore, a 2014 survey shows that the name Huawei was recognized by 65 percent of consumers from 32 countries, which is an increase from 52 percent in the previous year.
"Looking ahead, Huawei Consumer BG aims to sustain the growth momentum created in 2014 and further consolidate Huawei's leading position in the mid- to high-end smartphone market with a 2015 shipment target of 100 million units," says Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Technologies Consumer Business Group.
In early March, a report from Digits revealed that, according to research firm IDC, Huawei's smartphone sales increased by 54 percent last year to around 74 million devices, which allowed the company to gain 5.7 percent of the market, a far cry from the 4.8 percent market share it earned in 2013. This record easily placed Huawei trailing behind Samsung and Apple when it comes to being the most popular smartphone in the world.
"In the future, our main competition will be from Western companies, not Chinese companies," said Yu. "Most Chinese smartphone vendors will disappear in the next three to five years, and we'll be the leading ones. Our design is more premium, more high-end."
According to Strategy Analytics, Huawei's total number of shipped mobile phones worldwide reached 30.6 million in the second quarter of 2015. Samsung shipped 89 million mobile phones while Apple and Microsoft shipped 47.5 million and 27.8 million respectively.
In the first half of 2015, Huawei shipped a total of 48.2 million handsets, which allowed it to earn an increase in revenue by 87 percent to $7.23 billion. If Huawei manages to keep its sales track record, the company could realize its shipment target of 100 million units before the year ends.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns | Flickr
