Huawei’s flagship smartphone, the P8, sold at least a million units within its first two months of being available in various markets around the globe. With the device only being introduced to several other markets in Asia and Africa in the last few weeks, that number should be higher going forward even though the general trend in the smartphone business is usually high sales upon hitting the market thanks to strong interest and steady decline after that (Apple so far has been the only exception to this rule as sales of the iPhone continue being stronger as reflected in the company’s half year results.
Huawei has released its financial figures for the first half of the year and the division of the company that is of greater interest to us, the Consumer Business Group posted what it describes as “record remarkable business growth” within that said period. Its sales income alone accounts for 32% of Huawei’s total income. The handset business revenues reached the $7.23 billion mark representing a year-on-year increase of 87% and the group attributes it to its focus on mid-to-high-end devices like last year’s flagship smartphone, the Ascend P7, last year’s big surprise and an instant hit with the customers, the Ascend Mate 7 and mid-range devices like the G6.
The P7 and the Mate 7 managed to sell 7 million and 5 million units respectively in the first half of the year in the 100+ countries where they have been available. While the P7’s successor, the P8, is already in the market and is expected to fair well, the Mate 7’s successor, the Mate 8, is expected to be unveiled in Berlin during IFA 2015. The 12 million units the two devices managed to sell are just a part of the 48.2 million smartphones that Huawei managed to sell in the first half of 2015 representing a year-on-year increase of 39%. Mid-range and high end smartphones accounted for 31% of the total handset shipment and brought in 42.9% of the group’s total income, a 388% increase. They made for 44% of the total profit.
In the month of May alone, Huawei accounted for 8.8% of the global smartphone market according to figures from German research institute, GfK. In its home market of China, despite surging sales of Apple’s iPhone 6 duo of the 6 and 6 Plus, Huawei managed to peak at 15.2% in terms of marketshare coming ahead of Samsung and Apple in the month of June.
