Huawei, hit by direct US sanctions, falls from No. 1 in the smartphone market to No. 6
Input: 2021.01.29 15:05
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China’s Huawei, which had risen to the top of the world’s smartphone sales, plunged to 6th place after a direct hit by US sanctions.
▲Huawei fell to the 6th place after being pushed out of Apple, Samsung, as well as Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo. (Source: Getty Image Bank)
According to CNBC today on the 29th, market research firm Counterpoint Research estimates that Huawei’s global smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of last year were 33 million units, down 41% from the same period last year, and the market share was only 8%.
Huawei fell far behind Apple and Samsung, as well as Chinese rivals Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo to fall into the 6th place. Market research firm Canalis also announced that Huawei’s smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of last year were 32 million units, down by almost 43% from a year ago.
It is the first time in six years that Huawei has been pushed out of the top 5 global smartphone sales, Canalis said. Canalis analyst Amber Liu said in a report that as a result of US sanctions, Huawei was suddenly pushed out of most markets.
According to market research firms, Huawei ranks third in the world by total smartphone sales in 2020. Huawei’s decline is in contrast to Apple’s record-high performance.
According to research firm IDC estimates, Apple sold 91.1 million smartphones in the fourth quarter of last year, regaining the top spot from Samsung Electronics. Apple’s sales volume is a record that no other company has achieved.
Apple increased its sales by 22% thanks to the popularity of its first 5G model, the iPhone 12, and accordingly the market share increased to 23.4%.
Apple has also taken Huawei’s share of China’s high-end smartphone market, said Canalis analyst Nicole Feng, although there is still demand for Huawei in China.
U.S. sanctions hit Huawei’s smartphone business immensely. Huawei was blacklisted by the U.S. government in 2019, blocking access to key components and software from U.S. companies.
The fact that Huawei smartphones cannot use Google’s Android operating system is not a big deal in China, where Google search and YouTube are blocked, but it directly influenced consumer choices in overseas markets.
In the United States last year, Huawei even completely cut off the way to supply advanced semiconductors from companies such as Taiwan’s TSMC. In the fourth quarter of last year, Huawei also suffered a big blow in the Chinese market, which it has been good at. According to CINNO Research in Shanghai, Huawei’s sales in the Chinese market in the fourth quarter decreased by more than 40% to 24.2 million units.
Reuters reported recently that Huawei was considering selling the mid-to-low-end smartphone brand’Honour’ in November last year due to strong US sanctions, and is considering selling flagship brands’P’ and’Mate’. This is interpreted as a measure that Huawei will eventually withdraw from the expensive smartphone business.
However, Huawei denied the plan. Huawei recently led the consumer segment CEO Yu Cheong-dong, who grew up in the smartphone business, to lead the cloud and artificial intelligence sectors, a sign that Huawei is turning to other businesses, CNBC said.
Meanwhile, the China Global Times pointed out that Huawei should prepare for pressure from the new US government. White House spokesman Jen Saki said on the 27th (local time) that “communication equipment made by untrusted companies, including Huawei, poses a threat to the security of the United States and its allies.”
Gaolin Yun, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, predicted that the US will cooperate with China in the medical field, but may take tougher steps in some fields. He said the United States will continue to apply pressure in key areas where its next-generation technology domination may be threatened.