Huawei takes top spot in global phone shipments

Huawei has become the biggest vendor of smartphones in the world for the first time, according to analysts’ estimates.

It took the top spot by shipping 55.8 million devices in the last quarter, overtaking Samsung’s 53.7 million.

The report comes from analytics firm Canalys, which called the change “remarkable”.

The fact that China came out of pandemic lockdown earlier than other countries is pinpointed as the reason for Huawei’s success.

Huawei phones have also struggled to appeal to Western markets because they do not have Google-made apps, which are banned due to US trade restrictions.

Its new-found dominance is mainly driven by its impressive sales back home in China.

Overseas shipments are actually down for the company, by 27% – but Canalys estimates that it now sells more than 70% of all smartphones in mainland China.

“This is a remarkable result that few people would have predicted a year ago,” said analyst Ben Stanton from Canalys.