Huawei is the second largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, selling more smartphones than Apple and only beaten by Samsung. Despite such a massive global presence and its success, Huawei devices are not often sold in the US.
Despite an extremely limited presence in the US, Chinese telecommunications company Huawei is the second largest smartphone maker in the world after Samsung as of the first quarter of 2019. Huawei’s presence in the US will grow even more as tech giants such as Google, Intel and Qualcomm reportedly cut ties with the company. The move comes after President Trump signed an executive order declaring a national emergency over threats against America’s information and communications technology. The U.S. Department of Commerce has also added Huawei to the Bureau of Industry and Security Entity list, meaning any company that wants to sell or transfer technology to Huawei must obtain government approval.
Huawei Phones
However, Huawei offer phones that turned out to be very popular around the world, regardless of the fact that they were difficult to buy in the US. As the global smartphone market continued to decline in the first quarter of 2019, Huawei emerged as the only smartphone maker among the top three device makers to see volumes grow.
Affordable Prices
One of the reasons Huawei products have become so ubiquitous is a well-rounded product portfolio that includes high-end smartphones in the Mate and P series, as well as cheaper phones that fall under the Honor brand. With year-on-year growth of 50.3% in the first quarter of 2019, Huawei is “within striking distance of Samsung at the top of the global market,” says the International Data Corporation.
Things that Make Huawei Popular
Here’s a look at what makes Huawei devices so popular.
In most ways, Huawei devices are not unlike smartphones you can find in the US, at least when it comes to the Android ecosystem.
- At the high end, Huawei smartphones come with beautiful designs and high-end specs and features that easily compete with top US smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S10 and LG G8 smartphones. The company’s Mate 20 Pro regularly features on Business Insider’s list of the world’s best smartphones thanks to its beautiful design, great screen and nimble performance.
- Huawei’s flagship smartphones are also known for their impressive cameras, and this is also the case with the P30 Pro, which has four cameras. The P30 Pro has been rated as having a camera that’s on par with or even better than Google’s Pixel 3, which is particularly noteworthy since Google’s smartphones are known for their photography-focused features.
Like Samsung, the world’s leading smartphone manufacturer, Huawei offers several mid-range and low-end devices that are more accessible to a wider range of people around the world. The company’s premium smartphones create strong brand equity for its low-end and mid-range models, which is a big part of the reason the company is the world’s number two smartphone maker, according to IDC.