In a recent study conducted by the leading analyst firm, Strategy Analytics and Counterpoints Research, Huawei Consumer Business Group has achieved yet another milestone, as it was able to acquire 10% of the world’s total smartphone market, and is now the third largest smartphone manufacturer based on that parameter. Here’s how it happened:
- One of the biggest contributors to this result is the Chinese smartphone market itself, with 467 million phones shipped within the year.
- Among the top 5 vendors, three are Chinese brands which make up for almost 20% of the global market share, with nearly 10% belonging to Huawei.
- Huawei’s shipments grew from 108 million in 2015, to an estimated 140 million in 2016.
- Capitalizing on the unique opportunity presented by the Chinese economy, establishing the brand through strategic marketing.
- Changing its channel strategy, Huawei also increased the number of its service stores across 45 countries.
- Establishing long term and stable partnerships with retailers and distributors around the globe.
- Investment in extensive research and development to create a premium user experience from its products.
- Collaboration with renowned international brands, such as Leica and Porsche Design.
- Partnerships with stakeholders from other fields of expertise such as design, fashion, entertainment, and sports.
The Huawei P9, which uses a combination of innovative features, powerful hardware, and functional design exceeded 10 million units in sales. Making it the company’s first flagship model to have reached such a milestone. The fourth quarter of 2016 was also a huge success, thanks to the release of the P9 and P9 Plus during the spring and autumn.
So what’s next for the company then? If Huawei is aiming to sell more than Apple this year, North American and Asian markets will be the key.
“Huawei has gained a foothold in the premium market with the successful release of P9 and Mate 8 and will continue to put more emphasis on the premium market going forward, challenging Apple. In 2017, we expect Huawei to reap the reward of its offline channel expansion strategy started in late 2015 to cover 1,000 provinces by the end of the year.” – Tarun Pathak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research
In general, Huawei solidfied its position by implementing distinct domestic and overseas strategies, all while pursuing other markets with innovation and highly-efficient operations.
Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
