Huawei rules at home, and taking on the world
China's leading smartphone maker Huawei Technologies hit a record high share of 27 percent of the domestic market in the second quarter on booming sales of its sub-brand, Honor.
And the five market leaders — Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi and Apple — increased their combined share of the market to 90 percent from 73 percent a year ago, according to a report released yesterday by research firm Canalys.
The dramatically increasing dominance of the main players is making it increasingly hard for smaller producers, the report said.
This is Honor's year of "explosive growth" in domestic and global markets, said Honor presidentZhao Ming. The brand caters mainly for the young market.
Oppo was the second-ranked player with 21 percent of the market and Vivo had 20 percent.
More than 70 percent of Honor buyers are under 35 and the brand attracts strong customer loyalty, Zhao said during a press conference yesterday to release new Honor Note 10, which has a high level of artificial intelligence features.
The new model, which features a big-screen, AI-powered photography and a new cooling system used in the MacBook Air, will go on sale Friday.
Prices will range between 2,799 yuan and 3,599 yuan(US$417-US$537).
Honor has expanded successfully into the US$500 or above segment with its latest models and continues to erode the market share of competitors such as Xiaomi in the low-cost segment, said Canalys analystJia Mo.
Honor accounted for 55 percent of Huawei’s total sales in the quarter. Honor sales surged in foreign markets including Russia, India and Spain, Zhao added.
Chinese smartphone makers are expected to snare 54 percent of the global market by the end of 2018 on the back of a booming domestic market and overseas expansion, said another research firm TrendForce.
Huawei's sales overtook Apple in the second quarter, making it the first Chinese brand to hit the global number two spot, behind Samsung, Canalys said.
The research firm will release more details today.
Huawei Honor released a new Honor Note 10 model today.
