Customers from an experienced Huawei licensed device store on October 30, 2020 in Suzhou, China.
Fred Lee | Getty Images News | Getty Images
GUANGZHOU, China – Huawei’s smartphone deliveries continued to fall as a result of US sanctions, sending the world’s number one seller collapsing to rivals such as Apple.
The Chinese technology giant delivered 33 million smartphones globally in the fourth quarter of 2020, a decline of 41% year-on-year, placing its market share at 8%, according to data published by Counterpoint Research Thursday.
This made Huawei the sixth largest smartphone maker in the December quarter, behind Chinese rivals such as Oppo and Vivo and well behind Apple and Samsung.
Data released by Canalys on Thursday showed that Huawei delivered 32 million smartphones in the fourth quarter, down almost 43% from last year. This is the first time Huawei has come out of the top five in six years, Canalys said.
“Huawei has withdrawn dramatically in most markets as a result of US sanctions,” said Amber Liu, an analyst at Canalys Research, in a report.
The latest figures mark a sharp decline for Huawei compared to the second quarter of 2020, when it was ranked first in the world by deliveries.
For the entire year 2020, Huawei was the third largest in terms of smartphone deliveries, according to research companies. Huawei responded to the latest numbers by mentioning its position in third place.
“Huawei has always been committed to innovation and dedicated to creating more value for consumers with better products. In the last year, our smartphone business has grown strongly, and tablets, computers and portable devices have grown significantly. We remain confident. regarding the future, “the company said in a statement.
Huawei’s troubles came when Apple delivered 90.1 million phones in the fourth quarter, the highest number ever delivered by any smartphone smartphone maker, according to IDC. Apple also recorded a record quarter of revenue in China.
Indeed, US sanctions affect Huawei’s smartphone business. In 2019, Huawei was introduced on a US blacklist called the Entity List, which restricted US companies from exporting key components and software to the company.
The biggest effect of this was cutting Huawei off Google’s Android operating system. It’s no big deal in China, where Google services like Gmail and search are blocked. But in international markets, this has been the key to Huawei’s growth, as consumers are accustomed to these services.