Huawei smartphones rise to world # 3, Q3 2013; lag behind Samsung, Apple a lot

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Huawei overtakes LG in smartphone market share during Q3 Mobile
By Jon Fingas posted Oct 28th, 2013 at 9:39 PM91

Huawei overtakes LG in smartphone market share during Q3



Need proof that China is a crucial smartphone market? Strategy Analytics is more than happy to oblige. It just posted third quarter global market share estimates showing that Huawei has overtaken LG since the Q2 report, claiming third place with 5.1 percent of sales. This isn't the first time that the Chinese phone maker has reached such lofty heights, but it comes even as LG produced stellar results; Huawei just happened to grow faster. Researchers attributed the rise to strong sales of its higher-end Ascend P6 and the mainstream G610, particularly in Huawei's home country.

Otherwise, it's a familiar story. Samsung is still ruling the roost with 35.2 percent share, while Apple held on to the second-place spot at 13.4 percent. Huawei also isn't guaranteed to maintain its position when LG is likely to get a fourth quarter sales boost from the G2. However, it's evident that smartphone designers shouldn't get too comfy -- it doesn't take much to change the status quo.

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Samsung & Huawei Outperform as Global Smartphone Shipments Reach Quarter-Billion Units in Q3 2013

According to the latest research from our Wireless Smartphone Strategies (WSS) service, global smartphone shipments grew 45 percent annually to reach a record 251 million units in the third quarter of 2013. Samsung captured a record 35 percent share of all smartphone volumes worldwide, while Huawei jumped into third place in the rankings.

Global smartphone shipments grew 45 percent annually from 172.8 million units in Q3 2012 to 251.4 million in Q3 2013. This was the first time ever that smartphone shipments exceeded a quarter-billion units in a single quarter. Smartphones accounted for 6 in 10 of all mobile phones shipped worldwide. The smartphone industry's robust growth is being driven by strong demand for LTE models in developed regions like the US and 3G devices in emerging markets such as China.

Samsung grew 55 percent annually and shipped a record 88.4 million smartphones worldwide, capturing a record 35 percent marketshare in Q3 2013. Samsung shipped over two times more smartphones than Apple during the quarter. While shipments of the flagship Galaxy S4 model softened, solid demand for the new Note 3 phablet and for mass-market devices like the Galaxy Y helped to lift Samsung's volumes.

Apple shipped 33.8 million iPhones worldwide in Q3 2013, up from 26.9 million a year earlier. Apple grew just 26 percent annually during Q3 2013, which is around half the overall smartphone industry average of 45 percent. Apple's global smartphone marketshare has dipped noticeably from 16 percent to 13 percent during the past year. Nonetheless, we expect Apple to rebound sharply and regain share in the upcoming fourth quarter of 2013 due to high demand for its new iPhone 5s model.

Huawei was a star performer as global shipments grew 67 percent annually to 12.7 million units in Q3 2013. Huawei captured 5 percent marketshare and became the world's third largest smartphone vendor. The popular P6 and G610 models have been among the main drivers of Huawei's success. Huawei remains very strong at home in China, but its position is less robust in other major markets like the US and Europe. Huawei will need to expand aggressively in the American and European markets if it wants to seriously challenge the big two of Samsung and Apple next year.

Other findings from our research include:

* LG shipped 12.0 million smartphones worldwide for 5 percent marketshare in Q3 2013. LG grew 71 percent annually, making it the fastest-growing vendor among the top five brands. LG has been expanding rapidly in Europe, but China and India remain weak spots;

* Lenovo shipped 10.8 million smartphones worldwide for 4 percent marketshare and fifth position in Q3 2013. Lenovo is popular among mass-market consumers in China and it is expanding internationally. Two of the world's top five smartphone vendors came from China -- Lenovo and Huawei.

The full report, Huawei Reaches Third Place as Global Smartphone Shipments Reach Quarter-Billion Units in Q3 2013, is published by the Strategy Analytics Wireless Smartphone Strategies (WSS) service, details of which can be found here: STRATEGY ANALYTICS

 

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Where are Indian smartphone makers？

A country of 1.3 bn doesn't have a single phone maker making into top 10？

 

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China's Huawei to go it alone in network gear, handsets

Tue Nov 5, 2013 12:17pm EST

* Will not do acquisitions in either business line -exec

* On track to hit 10 pct sales growth target this year, next

* Gradual approach to growing handset business

By Leila Abboud

LONDON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - China's Huawei is not planning acquisitions to expand its telecom network equipment and mobile phone businesses, preferring a go-it-alone strategy centred on R&D firepower and building a consumer brand, the group's co-chief executive said.

Speaking in London on Tuesday, Eric Xu, who now holds the rotating CEO job, also said Huawei would have no problem hitting its target for 10 percent revenue growth this year and next on strong demand from global telecom carriers and consumers.

Shenzhen-based Huawei earned roughly 73 percent of its 220.2 billion yuan ($36.1 billion) sales last year on network equipment for telecom operators, while 22 percent came from mobile phones and other consumer devices like wifi dongles. Nearly three quarters of revenue is earned outside China, making Huawei one of the country's first truly global companies.

"We will not do any acquisitions to support the business objectives we have for our smartphone business, rather we will take a step-by-step approach to build it," Xu told reporters.

As for the telecom gear unit, Xu also said no acquisitions were planned.

Huawei has expanded globally in the past decade to become the world number two behind Sweden's Ericsson, taking market share from Europe's Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia's NSN unit via lower prices and strong technology.

"Any acquisition would bring us similar technology to what we already have in our portfolio and that does not bring any synergies," said the 46 year-old executive.

"The customers also want multiple choices of vendors."

Xu's remarks come as the telecom equipment and mobile phone sectors could be moving into a period of consolidation as weaker players struggle to stay with the rapid pace of technological change. Nokia is considering strategic options including a tie-up with rival Alcatel-Lucent after it unloaded its mobile device business to Microsoft, sources earlier told Reuters.

In handsets, Canada's Blackberry tried and failed to sell itself, although Xu said Huawei was never in talks with the company. Taiwan's HTC is also seen by some analysts as possible takeover prey as its sales tank under pressure from Samsung and Apple.

Regardless of the deal-making landscape, Huawei, which was founded in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei, an engineer who got his start in the Chinese army, does not think it needs to snap up weakened rivals to keep up its rapid growth.

Instead, Xu said the group would emphasise R&D to stay ahead of the competition in network gear. He cited a $600 million investment it was making in early research into next-generation mobile technology known as 5G that will multiply download speeds from 4G technology still being rolled out in much of the world.

Huawei spent 14 percent of its sales last year on R&D, on par with leader Ericsson.

In handsets it took a long-term view and was focusing on smartphones aimed at developed markets and not on the lower end.

Xu said the group would refrain from massive advertising campaigns while it worked on improving products, strengthening its supply chain and may open stores for distribution.

"We are not yet satisfied with this business. Only when these three goals are met will we start to increase our investment on the marketing and branding side," he explained.

The strategy appears to be working, although in market share Huawei remains far smaller than leaders Samsung and Apple.

In the third quarter, Huawei took the third-place spot from LG in terms of smartphone shipments helped by its Ascend P6 model, selling 12.7 million phones and taking its market share to 5.1 percent globally, according to Strategy Analytics.

Samsung led with 35.2 percent and Apple had 13.4 percent.

Xu admits that building a global brand takes time, and it could temporarily lose the third spot if rivals' new handsets appeal to fickle consumers, but Huawei is playing the long game.

"Our PR agency told us we should help consumers learn how to pronounce the name Huawei, and maybe over time they will come to know the brand."

China's Huawei to go it alone in network gear, handsets| Reuters