Chinese device maker Huawei managed to ship a total of 27.4 million smartphone units in the period ended September 2015 according to a statement from the company released on Tuesday. The rise in smartphone shipments, by 63% compared to a similar period last year, is mainly attributable to the rise in shipments of mid-range to high-end smartphones and growth of its share of the budget smartphone market in key emerging markets.
Shipments of mid-range and high-end devices rose by 7% when compared to Q3 2014 to account for 33% of the total smartphone shipment figure. While definitely such devices retail at higher prices and represent significant returns to the company, the bulk of the smartphone shipments were those in the budget segment and targeted mainly at emerging smartphone markets in Asia and Africa.
In the Middle East and Africa, smartphone shipments increased by 70%. Huawei also managed to finally make a lot of headway in Europe where its shipments increased by up to 98% in Q3 2015. This position is further expected to be solidified by the recent launch of the Huawei Mate S, a premium big screen smartphone that has all features expected of a high-end smartphone like a Quad HD panel, a fingerprint sensor, a pressure-sensitive display and even being available in rose gold colour option just like the new iPhones.
At home in China, Huawei has a 15% share of the smartphone market and a recent report by research company Canalys puts it at number 1 ahead of fierce rival Xiaomi which slipped to second place.
Huawei has a goal of shipping 100 million smartphones this year most of those being budget devices and it is on course to achieving that goal. It’s flagship devices, 2014’s P7 and Mate 7 and this year’s P8 and Mate S have been favourably received in the market even though they are still miles away from matching their high-end equivalents from Samsung and Apple as far as sales figures go. Huawei is currently third in the world in terms of smartphone shipments beaten only by Samsung and Apple. Huawei has so far managed to ship 7.5 million units of the P8 smartphone, 6.5 million units of the Mate 7 and 4 million of the P8.
