Huawei reaches top three spot in global smartphone market share

Post 2016, Huawei has consolidated its position as one of the world's three largest smartphone vendors in the market.

According to data released by leading analyst firms Strategy Analytics and Counterpoints Research, Huawei Consumer Business Group (CBG) has become the third largest smartphone manufacturer by market share, commanding 10 percent of the total global market. Meanwhile, total worldwide smartphone shipments have grown by 2.3 percent year-on-year in 2016, totaling 1.47 billion units.

It has also been reported that the Chinese market has contributed a large part of this total figure, with 467 million mobile phones shipped for the year. Among the top five vendors, Samsung, Apple, Huawei, OPPO, and Vivo, the three Chinese brands have accounted for almost 20 percent of the global market share.

Huawei Honor 8 Pro with dual-rear camera launching on February 26

Notably, while Huawei has been ranked third overall with nearly 10 percent market share, it has maintained a steady growth despite a weaker global market. And in total, Huawei shipped 139.3 million units in 2016, a 30.2 percent increase from 2015.

Huawei's annual growth in shipments has shown strong momentum and it looks like the company will continue to perform above the industry average. Shipments have grown from 75 million in 2014 to 108 million in 2015 and approximately140 million in 2016. Thus this industry-defying growth has also consolidated its position as the number three global vendor.

Commenting on Huawei's performance, Tina Lu, Senior Analyst at Counterpoint Research said, "Huawei was a rising star in December 2016, an important achievement for Chinese companies."

Huawei P10 and P10 Plus leaked images shows dual-curved display

Also, Lu added that in order for Huawei to sell more smartphones than Apple in 2017, "Performance in North America and Asian markets will be the key. If it can build on its strong position in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, then it has a chance to accomplish this goal."

However, in 2017 the competition between the Chinese smartphone manufacturers is only expected to become more serious. The companies will be launching new products and at the same time will be developing better strategies to outdo each other in the smartphone market. It will be interesting to see if Huawei retains its spot or some other player will snatch it from the company.