Huawei regains its position beats Oppo: Canalys

According to a new report by Canalys, Huawei has regained the top position in the smartphone market in China, pushing Oppo to the second spot.

The report says that "the Chinese smartphone giant, which launched the P10 and P10 Plus during MWC, shipped close to 21 million units to secure an 18 percent market share."

It said, despite a strong annual growth of 55 percent, Oppo fell to second place with shipments of just under 20 million units while Vivo is at third-placed and has managed to capture a 15 percent share with its shipment of 17 million units.

"China's smartphone market continues to grow, with shipments increasing by over 9 percent year on year this quarter," said Canalys Research Analyst Lucio Chen.

He said, "But there is a clear indication that the market is consolidating. The top three vendors are pulling away at the head of the market, accounting for more than 50 percent of shipments for the first time this quarter. In the corresponding quarter a year ago, Huawei led with Vivo second and Oppo fourth, together accounting for 42 percent of the market.Xiaomi took third place but has since fallen to fifth behind Apple, shipping just over 9 million units in Q1 2017."

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The report added that Xiaomi faces increasing pressure from Huawei's online efforts with Honor, as well as Oppo and Vivo, whose marketing activities have been taking attention away from Xiaomi.

"To grow this year, Xiaomi will need to quickly switch from being a value-for-money vendor to become an aspirational brand," said Canalys Research Analyst Mo Jia.

He further added, "Xiaomi's desire to move up the value chain in China will be an uphill struggle, considering Oppo and Vivo's lead and Huawei's plans to increase investment in its offline channel in 2017."

Canalys also estimates 114 million smartphones shipped in China in the quarter ending 31 March 2017.