Huawei exploded and Apple sales fell sharply in China in the last quarter

The global smartphone market is rather bleak and the situation in China is even worse. Despite these conditions, the new data from Canalys shows that Huawei's growth is fundamentally unstoppable.

Huawei saved the Chinese smartphone market

Between January and March 2019, smartphone manufacturers managed to ship a total of 88 million devices in China. That number is down 3% from one year to the next compared to the 90.7 million units shipped 12 months ago, but the relatively low decline suggests that the worst could be spent for the market. Since the second quarter of 2017, the Chinese smartphone market has continued to experience negative growth. More recently, in the first and fourth quarters of 2018, shipments fell 21% and 14%, respectively.

Regarding the performance of individual smartphone manufacturers, Huawei was the only major brand to grow during the period. In fact, if Huawei's growth was removed from the equation, the Chinese smartphone market as a whole would have lost 12.5%.

In the first quarter of 2019, the data collected by Canalys suggests that Huawei sold 29.9 million smartphones. This represents an incredible 41% increase over the 21.2 million aircraft delivered a year earlier and has increased the company's market share to a record 34%, an increase of almost 10%. % in just one year.

In terms of what led to this impressive performance, Canalys stresses that Huawei has made significant investments in new physical sites, redeveloping the old ones and expanding its range of IoT devices and accessories to generate additional interest.

Apple experienced its largest sales decline in more than 2 years

Apple is at the opposite end of the spectrum. Fifth largest brand in China, the Cupertino giant has only sold 6.5 million iPhones during the three-month period and held a 7.4% market share. Twelve months ago, the company accounted for 10.2 percent of China's smartphone market and shipped 9.3 million iPhones.

Comparing the two results, the numbers translate into a 30% year-on-year decline, which is actually Apple's worst in over two years. Nevertheless, the giant Silicon Valley has hinted earlier today that the situation in China is gradually improving.

Other big brands did not behave too well

Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo filled gaps between Apple and Huawei in fourth, third and second place respectively.

Xiaomi spent most of the first quarter diversifying its device portfolio and turning Redmi into an independent brand that will compete with Huawei's Honor in the low-end segment. For the most part, these efforts were successful – the company grew compared to the previous quarter – but these changes were not enough to avoid a 13% drop from the previous year.

Vivo and Oppo, on the other hand, experienced slight declines of 4% and 2% respectively. Both companies have invested heavily in redesigning their image. Vivo has significantly expanded its range of smartphones and Oppo's focus is on creating a slightly more premium image, reinforced by Reno's recently announced lineup.