Huawei overtook Apple and Samsung to become Russia’s most popular smartphone brand

Huawei, in June and July, surpassed Apple and Samsung in Russian smartphone sales for the first time, according to the data published by the consulting firm Counterpoint Research.

Huawei’s smartphones, as well as their Honor branded devices, took the narrow lead with a market share of 26.5 percent in June, while the former champion Samsung was 23.2 percent. In February, Huawei caught up with Apple, becoming the No.2 mobile phone brand in the Russian market.

At Huawei’s latest product launch last week, spokesman Richard Yu told the conference that for the first six months of 2018, Huawei has sold 100 million smartphones and, with this in mind, before the end of the year, the company plans to sell 200 million phones.

Last year, total Huawei shipments were 153.1 million globally, falling behind its competitor Samsung’s 317.3 million and Apple’s 215.8 million, according to IDC research data.

The company is leading the way in developing countries with cheaper prices, better performances and more improved user experience than its counterparts. In fact, the less-attractive exterior design, well known battery flaws, and competition from the Android system have put Apple in an awkward position in the increasingly saturated market.

Among Apple’s lost users, 70 percent of them opt for Huawei, two percentage points higher than that of Samsung. Many of them intended to simply try the phones out at first but quickly became loyal Huawei fans because of the device’s high quality.

Recently, China’s domestic gadget brands have seen a rapid growth in the global market. Xiaomi, one of China’s top two phone makers, also increased its presence among the rivals. Besides for the company’s impressive performance in China, it also captured 30 percent of India’s market share in the first quarter of the year, selling over nine million phones.

With each brand is launching this year’s new products in September, let’s wait and see who will ride the market’s waves and be the top of the game next time.