Huawei's China smartphone sales surge in Q3 as Apple declines - research firms

 Research firms report that Huawei's smartphone sales in China surged in Q3 while Apple's fell.

Huawei's China smartphone sales surge in Q3 as Apple declines - research firms

On July 14, 2019, Huawei mobile phones are on exhibit at their Vina del Mar, Chile store. Reuters/File Photo/Rodrigo Garrido Obtains Licensing Rights

October 26, Beijing (Reuters) - Two research firms said on Thursday that Huawei's (HWT.UL) smartphone sales in China surged significantly in the third quarter as consumers snatched up its Mate 60 series phones. One of the firms noted that this helped close the market share gap with leading brands like Apple (AAPL.O).

Huawei's Mate 60 introduction helped the company post a 37% year-over-year growth in smartphone sales in the quarter, according to Counterpoint, while Canalys observed that the company's market share was continuing to rise and that it was closing the gap with its top competitors.

The results represent a return for U.S. export restrictions against Huawei, which have been in place since 2019, severely hurt the company's smartphone business.

Particularly after its August launch, the Mate 60 Pro phone attracted attention from all around the world since it was discovered to be employing a sophisticated chip built in the country, which more analysts and people saw as a sign that the firm had surmounted U.S. sanctions.

"If Huawei's new Kirin chips are expanded to mid-range and low-end product lines in the future, it will have the potential to further disrupt the competition among top brands in the market," Lucas Zhong, an analyst at Canalys, said.

With a share of 12.9% during the quarter, Huawei surpassed 9.1% to take the sixth-largest smartphone brand in China, according to Counterpoint's study time last year.

Additionally, it was discovered that China's total smartphone sales decreased by 3% during the quarter as compared to the same time previous year, continuing a downward trend caused by a slowing economy and customers delaying phone upgrades due to cost concerns.

According to Canalys, sales of the top five smartphone brands in China either decreased or remained unchanged from the previous year. Vivo had seen the greatest reduction, down 26%, followed by Oppo, down 10%, Apple (AAPL.O), down 6%, and Honor, down 1%. Comparatively, Xiaomi (1810.HK) was unchanged.

According to Canalys, Honor topped the pack with 11.8 million units shipped and an 18% market share. With 16 percent of the market, Oppo and Apple were tied for second place.

Apple remained in first place It stated that this was in part because to the September 22 debut of its iPhone 15 series in China.

In the first six weeks following its launch, Huawei reportedly sold an estimated 1.6 million Mate 60 series smartphones, according to Counterpoint's earlier this month report.

However, early sales of Apple's iPhone 14 outpaced those of the iPhone 15, according to Counterpoint as well.