Huawei sees sales decline for first time

China’s smartphone market sales fell in the third quarter with leader Huawei seeing its sales decline for the first time, analysts Canalys said in a report on Friday.

The quarter saw 83 million units sold in China, a 15 percent drop compared with a year ago.  

“The market decline was expected,” said Canalys analyst Jia Mo. “Huawei was forced to restrict its smartphone shipments following the US sanctions which caused a void in channels.” 

By September, Huawei had a 41.2 percent market share, followed by Vivo’s 18.4 percent, Oppo’s 16.8 percent, Xiaomi’s 12.6 percent and Apple’s 6.2 percent, according to Canalys.

Huawei released its new flagship Mate 40 models in Shanghai on Friday, with a starting price of 4,999 yuan (US$735).

Huawei is facing its “most serious challenge” since taking the lead in China in 2016, Jia said, and will attempt to pivot its business strategy to focus on building the Harmony or Hongmeng system and ecosystem.

Apple shipped 5.1 million iPhones in the quarter, down 1 percent from a year ago. It has cleared inventory of old models, leaving space for iPhone 12 models, Canalys said.