Huawei is no longer even in the top 5 in smartphone sales

Huawei is no longer part of the world's Top 5 smartphone manufacturers. The brand is positioned in sixth position in the fourth quarter of 2020. It has been 6 years since it was ranked above fifth place. For the first time, Oppo and Vivo overtake Huawei in a global ranking. The first three places go to Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi respectively.

Suffering from American sanctions for almost two years, which the new American president could partially lift , Huawei is inevitably sinking in the rankings of sales of smartphones at the global level. If the firm manages to maintain itself in its domestic market, volumes are dwindling internationally. Despite the excellent performance of its high-end smartphones, including the Mate 40 Pro that we had the opportunity to test, sales are falling, mainly because Huawei's mobiles are not compatible with Google Play services .

OPPO AND VIVO OVERTAKE HUAWEI FOR THE FIRST TIME

The consequence of this sharp drop is the rise of the three other major Chinese brands: Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo. They are in the fourth quarter of 2020 respectively third, fourth and fifth in the global ranking of brands. This is the first time that Oppo and Vivo have overtaken Huawei globally . The two companies represent 9% and 8% of the market, with 34 and 33.4 million phones sold, respectively. They increased by 8% and 6% .

In the fourth quarter of 2020, the top three places go to Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi , in that order. Apple had an excellent quarter selling 81.9 million iPhones, or 21% of the market . It sold 13% more smartphones compared to the same period a year earlier, the second best increase in the Top 5, according to Counterpoint.

HUAWEI RETURNS BEHIND APPLE FOR THE WHOLE OF 2020

For the whole of 2020 precisely, Huawei falls back to third position , behind Apple, with 14% market share. The sales of the Chinese firm fell by 21%. Samsung remains the world leader with a 19% market share, despite a drop in sales of only 14%, confirming the sluggish sales of the Galaxy S20. Apple is again second with 15% market share, thanks to a 3% increase in sales volumes. Xiaomi is fourth with 11% of the market. Xiaomi's annual growth is only 17%. Oppo is fifth with 8% of the market. The brand is down 7%.

 In the second part of the table, we find, in order, Vivo, Realme (with a strong increase of 65% of sales), Lenovo, LG and Tecno. From seventh place (Realme), no brand weighs more than 3% of the market. Lenovo and LG fell significantly by 18% and 13% respectively . LG's decline is twice as small in 2020 as in 2019.