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China’s smartphone market cools in second quarter as Huawei drops out of top five vendor rankings

  • The world’s largest smartphone market saw shipments decrease 17 per cent in the second quarter
  • Xiaomi replaced Huawei as the third biggest smartphone vendor in mainland China

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US sanctions-hit Huawei Technologies Co fell out of mainland China’s top five smartphone vendor rankings in the quarter ended June. Photo: Agence France-Presse
Jane Zhang
Smartphone shipments in mainland China declined 17 per cent in the quarter ended June, as the void left in the market by US-blacklisted telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co could not be filled by the country’s other big Android handset vendors.

Shipments in the world’s largest smartphone market reached 74.9 million units in the second quarter, down from 90.7 million in the same period last year, as the number of major Android handset vendors that could ship 10 million units each quarter shrank to three from five previously, according to a report on Thursday by tech research firm Canalys.

“The collective market share of the top five vendors has dropped from 95 per cent in the second quarter of 2020, when Huawei dominated, to 82 per cent in 2021,” said Nicole Peng, vice-president of mobility at Canalys.

Oppo and Vivo, companies that Dongguan-based consumer electronics manufacturer BBK Electronics Corp helped establish, remained the nation’s top two smartphones vendors with unit shipments of 18.2 million and 16 million, respectively, last quarter.
Beijing-based Xiaomi replaced Huawei in third place, with shipments of 12.6 million units in the same period. The Hong Kong-listed firm was also the fastest-growing vendor last quarter, posting a 35 per cent increase in shipments for a 17 per cent market share.

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The rise of Chinese smartphones

The rise of Chinese smartphones
Apple and Honor, the former budget smartphone brand of Huawei, rounded out mainland China’s top five vendors last quarter with unit shipments of 7.9 million and 6.9 million, respectively. Honor made its debut in the nation’s top five smartphone vendor rankings, several months after it was sold by parent Huawei.
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