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Huawei expected to drop to seventh globally in smartphone production amid US sanctions: report
- Shenzhen-based Huawei is expected to produce 45 million smartphones this year compared to 170 million last year
- Global smartphone production is predicted to grow 9 per cent annually to reach 1.36 billion units in 2021
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Celia Chenin Shenzhen
Huawei Technologies Co. is predicted to fall from its current position as the third-largest smartphone maker to seventh place in 2021 amid US sanctions, even as the industry expects to produce more handsets this year, according to research company TrendForce.
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The Shenzhen-based telecommunications equipment giant wrested the crown of “world’s biggest smartphone vendor” from South Korea’s Samsung just last summer, but fresh US sanctions in August that cut off Huawei’s access to key software, hardware and partners have shrunk its market share.
Huawei’s global smartphone production volume is expected to drop from 170 million last year to 45 million this year, according to the TrendForce report released on Monday. The report also predicted that the Shenzhen-based company’s share of the global 5G market will drastically decrease from 30 per cent last year to just 8 per cent this year.
TrendForce said in the report that Huawei’s sale of its former budget smartphone business Honor in November last year also contributed to its fall in the ranking.
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Market research firms IDC and Strategy Analytics have respectively estimated that Honor accounted for 28 per cent and 38 per cent of Huawei’s total smartphone shipments in the first half of last year. Even if US sanctions are lifted in the future, Huawei may find it hard to regain its market share as it will be in competition with its former subsidiary, TrendForce said.
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