HONG KONG: China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd said smartphone shipments in the first half rose 62 per cent year-on-year, as it targets the more expensive smartphone sector dominated by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Apple Inc.
Shenzhen-based Huawei has shipped 34.27 million smartphones globally in the first six months ending June 30 — about 43 per cent of its annual shipment target of 80 million, according to Reuters’ calculations.
“We recorded faster growth in the Middle East and Africa and Latin America, with 275 per cent and 550 per cent year-on-year growth in the second quarter, respectively,” Shao Yang, vice-president of marketing in the consumer business group, said in a written statement.
He attributed the growth to improving brand awareness and stronger sales channels in overseas markets.
“Based on the growth momentum at the moment, we are firmly moving towards our full-year target,” Shao said, adding that smartphones are now accounting for 97 per cent of Huawei’s global phone shipments.
The company, which competes with Chinese makers Lenovo Group Ltd and ZTE Corp, shipped about 21 million smartphones globally in the second quarter ending June 30, an 85 per cent rise from the same period of last year.
Huawei’s strong growth in smartphone shipments confirms the challenge facing market leader Samsung Electronics, which issued unexpectedly weak quarterly earnings guidance citing increasing competition from Chinese rivals who are offering high-end models at cheaper prices.
Among the 80 million smartphones Huawei is planning to ship this year, about 20 per cent of them would be mid- to high-end models, up from the 16 per cent shipped in 2013, the company said earlier this year. Reuters