Huawei has overtaken Samsung to become the world’s largest smartphone supplier during the second quarter of 2020, Canalys research indicated.
Huawei shipped more smartphones worldwide than any other vendor for the first time in Q2 2020. It marks the first quarter in nine years that a company other than Samsung or Apple has led the market.

Huawei shipped 55.8 million devices, down 5 percent year on year. Samsung shipped 53.7 million smartphones, a 30 percent fall against Q2 2019.

The research report reveals that Huawei could manage to overcome pressure from the United States, one of the leading smartphone markets in the world. Operators in United States stopped buying Huawei smartphones. Huawei is also not the leading smartphone supplier in India.

Huawei is still subject to US government restrictions, which have stifled its business outside of mainland China, Canalys. Its overseas shipments fell 27 percent in Q2. Huawei has grown to dominate its domestic market, boosting its Chinese shipments by 8 percent in Q2, and it now sells over 70 percent of its smartphones in mainland China.

“This is a remarkable result that few people would have predicted a year ago,” said Canalys senior analyst Ben Stanton. “If it wasn’t for Covid-19, it wouldn’t have happened. Huawei has taken full advantage of the Chinese economic recovery to reignite its smartphone business.”

Samsung has a small presence in China, with less than 1 percent market share, and has seen its core markets, such as Brazil, India, the United States and Europe, ravaged by outbreaks and subsequent lockdowns.

It will be hard for Huawei to maintain its lead in the long term. Its major channel partners in key regions, such as Europe, are increasingly wary of ranging Huawei devices, taking on fewer models, and bringing in new brands to reduce risk. Strength in China alone will not be enough to sustain Huawei at the top once the global economy starts to recover, Canalys said today.