Huawei resists US ban, global smartphone slump

US - China trade war

US – China trade war

by MTHULISI SIBANDA 
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) HUAWEI is the only global smartphone vendor to achieve double-digit growth in smartphone sales in the third quarter of 2019, as it continues withstanding restrictions slapped on it by the United States.

The Chinese company sold 65,8 million smartphones, an increase of 26 percent year over year.

According to Garner, Huawei’s performance in China was the key driver of its global smartphone sales growth.

Huawei sold 40,5 million smartphones in China and increased its share of the country’s market by almost 15 percentage points.

Gartner stated that while the ban on Huawei to access key US technologies was yet to be fully implemented, as a three-month extension has been announced, the proposed ban brought negativity around Huawei’s brand in the international market.

Nevertheless, Huawei’s strong ecosystem in China continued to show growth.

The current situation with the US has also fostered patriotism among Huawei’s partners, which are now keener to promote its smartphones in China — a development that makes it difficult for local competitors to compete aggressively against Huawei, according to Gartner.

Meanwhile, global sales of smartphones to end users continued to decline in the third quarter of 2019, contracting by 0,4 percent compared with the third quarter of 2018, according to Gartner.

Demand remained weak as consumers became more concerned about getting value for money.

“For the majority of smartphone users, desire has shifted away from owning the least expensive smartphone. Today’s smartphone user is opting for midtier smartphones over premium-tier ones because they offer better value for money,” said Anshul Gupta, Gartner senior research director.

He said in addition, while waiting for 5G network coverage to increase to more countries, smartphone users were delaying their purchase decisions until 2020.

Samsung maintained the leading position globally in the third quarter of 2019, by increasing its smartphone sales by 7,8 percent (79 million units).

Apple’s iPhone sales continued to decline in the third quarter of 2019.

It sold 40,8 million iPhones, a year-over-year decline of 10,7 percent.

Gartner forecasts that With Black Friday and Cyber Monday approaching, smartphone deals are likely to spur consumer demand in the fourth quarter of 2019.

– CAJ News

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