For companies not named Samsung or Apple, gaining significant market share in the mobile space can be a big challenge. Despite solid efforts from HTC, Huawei, and LG in this year, DigiTimes is reporting that all three companies could be facing shrinking market share as we head into 2014. This is mainly due to the fact that sales of flagship devices from the three were underwhelming across the board, even though the phones in question definitely had a lot going for them.
DigiTimes spoke to various “industry observers” who pointed to the lagging sales of the HTC One, the LG G2, and the Huawei Ascend P6. The revamped HTC One launched way back in March, and even though it was met with favorable reviews, sales of the device never really took off after release. We weren’t offered any solid sales numbers, but these statements suggest that the One missed sales expectations by at least a fair margin, which is bad news for the already struggling HTC. In fact, these poor sales led to HTC reporting big losses in Q3 2013, which isn’t good news for a company that really needs a hit.
Shifting attention to the LG G2, the relative failure of this device seems to be more of an issue of timing. The G2 sold only 2 million units, which seems impressive until you hear that LG was hoping to shift 10 million units by the end of 2013. Why such a large difference between actual sales and LG’s projections? Because the G2 was launched close to the release of the Nexus 5, and it was majorly overshadowed as a result.
Finally, we come to Huawei, which didn’t fare much better than LG. We see that same sales goal of 10 million units with the Ascend P6, but unfortunately Huawei was only able to move 3 million units. Instead of competition with a more desirable handset, Huawei’s troubles are blamed on “low global brand image” and “insufficient marketing efforts.” Huawei is certainly a lesser-known brand to mainstream consumers in many parts of the world, so these reports don’t come as much of a shock.
Things may not get much better for these three companies in 2014, as new devices from popular Android manufacturers may continue to stifle sales of their flagship devices. We’ll have to keep an eye on the likes of HTC, LG, and Huawei moving into the new year, but if DigiTimes’ industry observers are to be believed, none of them are ending 2013 on a particularly high note.