Huawei rises on top of Apple as the No. 1 smartphone brand in China

Huawei has become the no. 1 smartphone brand in China toppling Apple off its perch, thanks largely to its hugely groundbreaking 5G phone Mate 60 Pro.

As per recent research, Huawei’s smartphone market share reached 19.4 percent in China in W40 (40th week), a period between October 2 and 8. Apple now rests at the 2nd spot, as per BCI.

The figures should delight Huawei who has been reeling from US tech sanctions since 2019. The tech giant has recently launched the Mate 60 Pro which shocked the world as to how the company was able to use advanced 5G chips when it was under heavy scrutiny.

Various unboxing revealed that Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro uses a 7nm 9000s Kirin chipset made by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), a Chinese firm as Huawei can’t use the SoC from its other partners such as TSMC due to the US ban.

Ever since the device arrived on the market, the sales have shot through the roof. There was also a short-lived rumor that the Chinese government banned government officials from using iPhones to encourage the purchase of Huawei’s phone in a symbolic gesture which was later refused by the government. Mate 60 series has been the fastest-selling smartphone in China to date.  

Huawei’s sales growth rate reached 91 percent, 46 percent, and 83 percent, respectively, reports BCI.

China is home to leading smartphone OEMs and in the W40, all of them grew their sales while Apple was forced to bear a double-digit decline.

“The trend suggests iPhone would lose to Huawei in 2024,” stated Jefferies analysts.

With Mate 60 Pro, which Huawei launched without a buzz, the company made a statement that it’s ready to enter the 5G smartphone scene despite continuous and stricter bans from the US. The device has forced many to question whether the US tech ban on Huawei could be or has become counterproductive.

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