Huawei’s growth in Europe during the three-month period ending this July was threatened by Samsung Electronics and Sony, according to a set of data compiled by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech. Sony and Huawei were still the best performers in the five largest markets on the Old Continent during the examined period, with the two holding a 4.8 and 14.6 percent market share, respectively. Huawei’s share in Great Britain and Germany fell over those three months, primarily due to Samsung and Sony’s new entry-level and mid-range offerings which are extremely value-oriented, the latest market analysis revealed. The Chinese tech giant still managed to maintain its dominant position by increasing its performance in Italy and Germany, ultimately raising its EU5 market share by 2.2 percentage points compared to the same period last year.
Dominic Sunnebo of Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said that Sony’s renewed focus on the mid-range and entry-level segment proved to be a positive move for the company whose 2015 flagship push failed to produce significant results, suggesting that the Japanese firm should continue pursuing the same strategy going forward. Samsung continued dominating the U.S. market during the aforementioned period with a market share of 36.2 percent, being closely followed by Apple which now holds over 34 percent of the thereof. The iPhone 7 was still the most successful smartphone in mid-2017, accounting for 12.6 percent sales in the U.S., with the Galaxy S8 lineup placing second with 8.8 percentage points of all sales in the country.
Huawei just recently became the second largest original equipment manufacturer in the world, according to data compiled by Counterpoint Research. The Chinese tech giant hence overtook Apple in terms of phone shipments both in June and July and is currently only behind Samsung in the global handset race, though it’s also expected to lose that position come this year’s holiday season. While the final quarter of the year is traditionally the most lucrative period for consumer electronics manufacturers, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 and Apple’s new flagship lineup encompassing the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and the bezel-free iPhone X (pronounced “ten”) are all believed to outperform Huawei’s offerings in terms of sales. The release of Apple’s latest offerings is also expected to challenge Samsung‘s position in the U.S. market, though it remains to be seen to what degree.