Huawei trumps Apple to become world's second largest smartphone brand
Chinese smartphone maker, Huawei, has surpassed Apple's smartphone sales worldwide, reports said. Analysis for the months June and July showed strong sales for Huawei, only second to Korean firm Samsung. The surge has been largely attributed to the firm's heavy investment towards research and development, manufacturing and aggressive marketing.
In July this year, Huawei partnered with KFC to release a limited edition Huawei phone, Enjoy 7 Plus, complete with powerful processors- and Colonel Sanders embossed on the back! It enabled users to create and share playlists across KFC restaurants using a KFC-branded music app.
Huawei's global market share currently stands at 13%, after hovering around 13.2% in December last year. Apple's market share in December 2016 was estimated to be around 12%. Huawei stated that it had sold its popular Honor brand across 74 countries, propelling forward a major chunk of their overall sales. The company expects their market share to touch 25% for higher-end models this year.
With Apple's iPhone 8 launch next week, analysts cite the sales streak might be temporary. "A weak presence in the South Asian, Indian and North American markets limits Huawei's potential in the near-to mid-term to take a sustainable second place position behind Samsung," they said.
