In a remarkable turn of events, Huawei has made a triumphant comeback in the Chinese mobile phone market, surpassing Apple to claim a leading position. The latest data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) reveals Huawei’s resurgence, marking a significant shift in the landscape of the smartphone industry. Recall that back in 2019, Huawei became the largest mobile phone brand in the world. Shortly after, the company was hit with the U.S. ban. This ban stopped Huawei from doing business with any U.S. company. In fact, it also stopped Huawei from doing business with any brand that uses American technology. After the ban, Huawei slowly fell off the grid in the mobile phone market. It even had to sell off its sub-brand Honor, to save the brand. At the moment, the ban is still active but Huawei is making significant comebacks.
IDC Report Highlights
The IDC report for the first quarter of 2024 unveils Huawei’s impressive performance, with the brand securing the second position in the Chinese mobile phone market. With a market share of 17.1%, Honor, Huawei’s former subsidiary, clinched the top spot, showcasing the company’s resilience and competitive edge. Notably, Huawei’s resurgence comes after a period of uncertainty and challenges, signalling a remarkable turnaround for the brand. Huawei has a 17.0% market share to clinch second position. This shows that Honor just only slightly beat Huawei in the first quarter. In third position is Oppo with a 15.7% market share while Apple is in far fourth with a 15.6% market share. Vivo is fifth with 14.6% market share
Since the strong return of Huawei mobile phones in the second half of last year, the market has been hotly discussing that Honor will be the most affected. However, judging from the market data of the past two quarters, Honor has not been affected. Instead, it has gone one step further and jumped to first place in the overall Chinese market share. It provides a key boost for the recovery of the smartphone market. As IDC analysts said:
Thanks to the good market performance of Honor and Huawei, the overall Android mobile phone market grew by 9.3% year-on-year.
AI’s impact
The importance of AI to today’s smartphone market is self-evident. IDC has predicted that in the Chinese market, the share of the new generation of AI mobile phones will rise rapidly after this year, reaching 150 million units in 2027, with a market share of more than 50%. At the beginning of this year, Honor was ahead of the industry. Thanks to platform-level AI, the Magic large model and MagicOS 8.0. They bring a human-computer interaction experience based on user intent recognition and are available on the Magic6 series of mobile phones.
If you pay attention to Honor, you will find that its layout of AI is the earliest in the industry. In 2016, Honor took the lead in introducing the AI concept into mobile phones and released the industry’s first artificial intelligence mobile phone, Magic Generation. It used the Magic Live smart system to bring a prototype platform-level AI experience, opening the door to mobile phone intelligence and moving towards the Honor AI 1.0 stage.
Conclusion
Huawei moving above Apple, Oppo and Vivo is worth celebrating. The company has been at its lowest point in the past few years due to the U.S. ban. Its rise is a testament to its doggedness and strong desire to succeed with or without American technology. Honor’s ascent to the top of the Chinese mobile phone market symbolizes more than just market dominance. The rise of Huawei and Honor in China represents a paradigm shift in the industry.
