For the first time Huawei has replaced Microsoft as the third largest mobile phone vendor in the world, according to Q2 2015 research released by Strategy Analytics on Thursday. Though Apple’s market share declined against the last two quarters but the company still accounts for almost 13 percent of the total smartphone shipments.
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It is no secret that Huawei has been doing some pretty cool smartphones lately and we hope they keep improving and growing.
Thus, Huawei becomes the world’s largest and one of the most influential smartphone vendors, even though Samsung and Apple still have the supremacy over the premium market. It holds a 7% market share behind Apple and Samsung.
Exhibit 1: Global Mobile Phone Vendor Shipments and Market Share in Q2 2015 [1].
Now, the folks at Strategy Analytics have published a report showing just how popular Huawei phones are becoming. But that business has shrunk a lot since the purchase, according to Strategy Analytics, and Microsoft hasn’t set the smartphone world on fire either. But Samsung registered significant loss: market share dropped from 22.3 percent (second quarter, 2014) to 20.5 percent (second quarter, 2015). “Microsoft continues to lose ground in feature phones, while its Lumia smartphone portfolio is in a holding pattern awaiting the launch of new Windows 10 models later this year”. It shipped 19.8 million smartphones in Q2, up 31% year over year.
Apple, in second place, sold 47.5 million iPhones, up from 35.2 million, and its share rose to 10.9% from 8.2%.
Analyst Ken Hyers observed that Huawei is “rising fast in all regions” on the strength of 4G devices such as the “Mate7”.
Apple’s gains have been largely attributed to strong demand from consumers in China and other countries upgrading to bigger-screen iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models. Huawei’s hit 7 percent from 4.8 percent, while Microsoft’s fell to 6.4 percent from 11.8 percent.
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Strategy Analytics also noted that while Xiaomi remains a major player in China, its growth rate is slowing in both local and worldwide markets, and is now in danger of losing its top-five position. Compared to the 50.3-million mobile phones the company shipped at this time last year, it only managed to move 27.8-million units during Q2 2015.
