Huawei’s smartphone shipments could fall by up to a quarter this year, analysts say

Slump forecast after US commerce department blocked Chinese tech giant from buying US goods last week

Tech companies including Google and chip designer ARM have said they will cease supplies and updates to Huawei

Reading Time:2 minutes

Huawei shipped 208 million phones last year, including half to markets outside China. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:57pm, 25 May 2019Updated: 2:57pm, 25 May 2019

China’s tech giant Huawei, hit by crippling US sanctions, could see shipments fall by as much as a quarter this year and faces the possibility that its smartphones will disappear from international markets, analysts said.

Smartphone shipments by the world’s second-largest smartphone maker by volume could drop by between 4 and 24 per cent this year if the ban remains, according to Fubon Research and Strategy Analytics.

Several experts said they expected Huawei’s shipments to slide over the next six months but did not give a hard estimate due to uncertainties surrounding the ban.

The US commerce department blocked Huawei from buying US goods last week amid its escalating trade war with China.

Huawei’s smartphone shipments could drop by between 4 and 24 per cent this year, according to analysts. Photo: Bloomberg

The ban applies to goods and services with 25 per cent or more of US-originated technology or materials, and may, therefore, affect non-American firms.