Chinese tech-juggernaut Huawei has reported that it shipped 100 million smartphones this year. This stunning performance means that the company has now moved to the third position on the list of the top mobile brands in the world.
Huawei’s unprecedented rise surprises even Huawei
Huawei’s rise is particularly astounding considering how recently the company entered the mobile industry. Huawei introduced its first Android smartphone in 2009. The company then reached the figure of 3 million units shipped in 2010. It went on to break domestic records in China and shipped 75 million units in 2014.
More from iSpyPrice: Here is the most comprehensive Huawei Mobile Price List
When one evaluates this progress it suddenly becomes clear that Huawei was poised to take over several other brands and the 100 million figure should actually not come as a surprise.
Having said that the comments from Huawei’s mobile phone division’s President He Gang suggest that even though the company had made tremendous progress in previous years, the news of topping the 100 million mark came as a bit of a pleasant surprise to it.
“It’s a stunning increase.”
– He Gang, President, Huawei’s mobile phone division.
What do the numbers say?
What makes Huawei’s rise even more commendable is the fact that in the past year or so the company has focused its attention on mid-range and high-end smartphones instead of low-budget phones. This is indeed a very interesting trend. The top 3 mobile phone brands in the world now are Samsung, Apple, and Huawei. In the third quarter of 2015, Huawei shipped 7.5 percent of all phones. Apple shipped 13.5 percent and Samsung continued to lead the way with 24 percent.
More from iSpyPrice: Check out this Huawei Tablet Price List
Huawei is also the largest mobile brand in China currently for 6 straight months. Xiaomi and Lenovo take up the second and third place respectively. Founder and President of Huawei Mr. Ren Zhengfei recently disclosed that the company has invested more than 190 billion yuan in improving the technical infrastructure and shifting the focus towards innovation.
He also said that Huawei has set up 16 R&D operational units across the world. One of them is in Bangalore, India. A recent report from Huawei indicates that the company invested 40.8 billion yuan in R&D.
Another interesting factor is that almost one third of all of Huawei’s shipments in the third quarter were high-end smartphones. This is interesting because it is often assumed that mobile brands which ship a lot of cheap phones are able to churn out large quantities and achieve huge shipment targets. But the fact remains that the top 3 mobile brands in the world are all largely focused on high-end phones.
More from iSpyPrice: This festive season gift your loved ones a Huawei Nexus 6P mobile
This proves that in order to be a truly global mobile brand companies must focus on consumers who are willing to spend money on quality phones. The focus on shipping low-budget phones should be complementary to this goal and not the primary focus of any brand looking to enter the big leagues on international territories.
Which Huawei smartphones contributed significantly to the 100 million shipments?
When a mobile brand ships 100 million units it is understood that it must have done so based on a combination of factors. More than one of its products must have done exceptionally well and if you are Huawei and have a plethora of options for consumers then quite a few of your products must have done well. However, there are a few smartphones that contributed more significantly than others to Huawei’s 100 million mark.
More from iSpyPrice: Order a Huawei Ascend Mate 7 mobile today
The company says that its popular phablet – Huawei Mate 7 – alone shipped more than 7 million units and the Huawei Mate 8 is curerntly doing way better than the Mate 7 did after its launch. This further confirms that Huawei’s focus is on high-end products.
Check out this great review of the Huawei Honor 6 Plus mobile from Android Authority.