Huawei Expects to Strip Apple of Its Mobile Sales Crown by Next Year

Huawei Technologies Co., China’s leading smartphone maker, believes it will surpass Apple Inc. in global mobile phone shipments by early next year, news site The Paper reported, citing one of the company’s senior executives.

“We may overtake Apple by the end of this year or early next year,” Yu Chengdong, chief executive of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group, said yesterday. That would make the Shenzhen-based company the second-largest smartphone maker by sales.

Huawei’s sales growth outstripped rivals Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple in 2017, according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. Huawei sold 153.1 million units, up 9.9 percent from the year earlier. Samsung still led with 317.3 million units, an increase of 1.9 percent. Apple recaptured the top spot in the fourth quarter, but came second for the year after selling 215.8 million units, up 0.2 percent.

“Viewed from technology strength and growth trend, I’m confident that it’s a historical inevitability that we’ll win,” Yu said.

The global market has shifted in recent years, leaving three dominant mobile phone players, Yu said. China’s home market will also see a similar shake-up, he added.

Huawei aims to become one of the top players, though Apple and Samsung sell more handsets despite their flagship phones being priced much higher. In the high-end market, the gap between Huawei and the other two is still significant. But Huawei’s products do not lag behind for quality and performance, Yu added.

“In terms of investment, other brands are not in the same league as us,” he said.

Huawei has no problems in selling 15 million units of its latest flagship mobile phone P20 series, and it is very likely to sell 20 million, Yu said, pointing to its strong sales performance.

(YICAI)