Huawei takes aim at Apple, sets goal of 200 million smartphone shipments in 2018
Over the course of 2017, Huawei managed to ship a considerable 153 million smartphone units putting it in third place behind Apple and Samsung. But, in an attempt to close in on the former, Huawei is now aiming to ship 200 million units in 2018.
The source of this information is Huawei’s own CEO Yu Chengdong, who revealed the brand’s plans at the recent Honor Play launch event in China and seems pretty optimistic about achieving the figure. After all, between 2010 and 2017, the company has managed to grow its smartphone business by 51 times, suggesting a small increase of under 25% should be attainable during 2018. Despite the CEO’s optimism, though, the results for 2018 as a whole largely depend on the popularity registered during the second quarter of the year. After all, the three-month period is historically one of Huawei’s strongest quarters due to the release of its P-line flagships and is usually indicative of how the company will continue to perform over the rest of the year. Ultimately, though, if Huawei does achieve the feat it would put the brand just behind Apple, who sold 215 million smartphones last year but, with the declining popularity of premium devices, is expected to ship slightly less in 2018.
Overall, Huawei’s end goal is to overtake Samsung but, in light of the difficulties it’s facing when it comes to the US smartphone market, the company has reportedly refocused on Europe and Asia in order to achieve this. See, unlike its South Korean rival which holds a dominant position in the US, Huawei holds the number one spot over in China and has also experienced very strong growth in both India and Europe, thanks, in part, to the increasing presence of the low-cost Honor brand.
At the end of the day, with Q2 2018 shipments still unclear, it's too early to see if Huawei is on track to reach its goal by the end of the year. However, considering the company’s track record in achieving them, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Huawei become the number 2 smartphone manufacturer by the end of Q1 2019.
The source of this information is Huawei’s own CEO Yu Chengdong, who revealed the brand’s plans at the recent Honor Play launch event in China and seems pretty optimistic about achieving the figure. After all, between 2010 and 2017, the company has managed to grow its smartphone business by 51 times, suggesting a small increase of under 25% should be attainable during 2018. Despite the CEO’s optimism, though, the results for 2018 as a whole largely depend on the popularity registered during the second quarter of the year. After all, the three-month period is historically one of Huawei’s strongest quarters due to the release of its P-line flagships and is usually indicative of how the company will continue to perform over the rest of the year. Ultimately, though, if Huawei does achieve the feat it would put the brand just behind Apple, who sold 215 million smartphones last year but, with the declining popularity of premium devices, is expected to ship slightly less in 2018.
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