Huawei Continues to Catch Apple, But Still Fighting to Gain Popularity in United States

[MacRumors]

Huawei, the world's third-largest smartphone maker, continued to gain on Apple in the first three months of the year, with an impressive 21.7 percent growth, according to market research firm IDC.

Huawei shipped an estimated 34.2 million smartphones worldwide in the first quarter, capturing 9.8 percent market share, based on data from IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. That's up from an estimated 28.1 million smartphones it shipped in the year-ago quarter.

By comparison, Apple shipped an estimated 51.6 million iPhones in the quarter for 14.9 percent market share. Apple essentially saw no smartphone growth in the quarter as the market remains highly saturated, and due to seasonality factors as consumers anticipate a widely rumored trio of new iPhone models.

Huawei has previously outlined its ambitions to dethrone Samsung as the world's largest smartphone maker within the next four years, a tall task that would require leapfrogging Apple in the process.

"We want to grow into top two market share, and, in the future, top one by 2021," Huawei's consumer head Richard Yu said in February.

Huawei's biggest problem is that it still lacks considerable brand awareness in the western world. In the United States, it does not even crack the list of the top ten most popular smartphone brands, largely because it lacks agreements with the country's biggest carriers Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint.

American customers have to resort to retailers such as Best Buy or Walmart, or Huawei's direct sales website, to purchase one of their unlocked devices, reducing the brand's visibility in the country.

Huawei has yet to reveal any larger plans for the United States, but in Canada, the company will begin selling its flagship P10 and P10 Plus smartphones through nationwide carriers Rogers and Bell starting in early June. Huawei has also been pushing its brand in Canada during the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

If Huawei can find success in Canada, then perhaps it will consider tackling the much larger U.S. market next.

Article Link: Huawei Continues to Catch Apple, But Still Fighting to Gain Popularity in United States

 

[macduke]

That's a nice looking phone—but I can't help thinking that I've seen it somewhere before?

 

[atomic.flip]

That thing looks virtually identical to an iPhone. Far more blatant a design ripoff than anything Samsung has ever pulled.

 

[jmh600cbr]

Not bad, by the Mi Mix is way better

 

[Jimmy James]

It's an awkward name for English speaking countries. Like Hyundai. They overcame the name but it worked against them at the start.

 

[AltecX]

Let's not mention the Nexus 6P battery lawsuit or the issue with the P10 and P9 where people paid believing they had performance that was just "luck of the draw" and that disk speeds drastically varied per device.

 

[The Game 161]

they don't really sell them in UK either

 

[Dumbass99]

Let's not mention the Nexus 6P battery lawsuit or the issue with the P10 and P9 where people paid believing they had performance that was just "luck of the draw" and that disk speeds drastically varied per device.

Add to that the TERRIBLE customer service - it takes at least 3 weeks for them to repair a phone under warranty - that they look for any reason to deny a warranty RMA - and "made in China" does not exactly give anyone a warm and fuzzy on quality control ......

 

[44267547]

Apparently, Huawei has to be able to catch Samsung too. Not just Apple.

 

[AngerDanger]

Introducing the iPhone 4…6 Galaxy 8 Plus:

 

[44267547]

Add to that the TERRIBLE customer service - it takes at least 3 weeks for them to repair a phone under warranty - that they look for any reason to deny a warranty RMA - and "made in China" does not exactly give anyone a warm and fuzzy on quality control ......

You do realize the iPhone is also made in China? Cell phones that are made in China doesn't necessarily Portray a cheaply made product.

 

[dannyyankou]

That's a nice looking phone—but I can't help thinking that I've seen it somewhere before?

They're pretty different. The speaker holes are oval instead of circular! Lol, they even borrowed the chamfered edge from the iPhone 5s.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Honestly, until these brands can make the same profit numbers as the iPhone who cares. They can outsell on unit volume all day, every day. If they can't challenge Apple where it hurts it's just ink on paper (or "on" pixels on screen). That is the only "catch up" number that really matters. And Huawei is truly in a tier or two below from Apple. Completely different market.

 

[FasterQuieter]

"Huawei Continues To Copy Apple" would have made a better headline.

 

[diipii]

"Huawei Continues To Copy Apple" would have made a better headline.

At half the price would make it even better.

 

[H2SO4]

They're pretty different. The speaker holes are oval instead of circular! Lol, they even borrowed the chamfered edge from the iPhone 5s.

Not too sure how much more you can do differently.
So the speaker holes are oval. Even if they’d made them ciruclar would it have been a big deal? People have been making round speakers and round speaker holes for years.
Edges, they surely have to be sharp, chamfered or rounded. Not a lot of choice to distinguish themselves there.
Oval plug hole in the centre. Big deal it follows the shape of the plug - what else did you expect?

It’s a slab with a screen on the front, how much variation do you expect? I mean really. Phones don’t look similar to the iPhone because of what Apple did. They also look that way because there are only so many things you can do within the realms of smart phone design.

Guess what cars still have a wheel at each corner, glass on the front back and sides and doors to facilitate entry. There are only so many changes you can make.

 

[NinjaHERO]

Bring em on. The more competition the better. Whatever keeps driving Apple to the next level. Better phones for all of us.

 

[Mousse]

They make good hardware. It's the gawd awful UI that's keeping people away. I've brought several Huawei (P8, Honor 5x and Honor 6x) phones over the years. The first thing I do is root and custom ROM, voiding my warranty be damned. I'll wait for the good folks over at xda developers to cook up something before I give the P10 a look.

 

[Fall Under Cerulean Kites]

You do realize the iPhone is also made in China? Cell phones that are made in China doesn't necessarily Portray a cheaply made product.

No, but “Designed in China” is inferior to “Designed by Apple in California” in the public’s eyes. At least the US public.

It has an odd name which cannot be phoenetically deciphered by an English speaker.
It’s appears to be an iPhone knock-off.
Where’s the store where you can walk in and pick one up?
Where do you go for service?

This is a phone for Asian markets where there are a lot of people looking for a good-looking, fashionable device, which may or may not even be all that good, at an affordable price. That’s not the USA.

 

[MrX8503]

Their competitor is Samsung.

Apple is in a unique position in that you can't beat them on hardware alone.

 

[loon3y]

Xaomi And Huiwei will never gain popularity in the US. Even the Xaomi's are very cheaply made, i laughed when i actually got my hands on one.

 

[pradeepbabloo]

Wow... blatantly copy Apple and then sit right behind them in sales/popularity! Bravo!

 

[44267547]

No, but “Designed in China” is inferior to “Designed by Apple in California” in the public’s eyes. At least the US public.

It has an odd name which cannot be phoenetically deciphered by an English speaker.
It’s appears to be an iPhone knock-off.
Where’s the store where you can walk in and pick one up?
Where do you go for service?

This is a phone for Asian markets where there are a lot of people looking for a good-looking, fashionable device, which may or may not even be all that good, at an affordable price. That’s not the USA.

Aside from your points, I was indicating that hardware made in China, regardless, doesn't indicate something that can be considered "Cheaply made." That's where that forum member Was indicating something made in China must have "Poor quality control." That's nothing more than a sweeping generalization without fact.

Also, this goes without saying, but Apple has significant notoriety, where Huwaei is more limited in this area for obvious reasons.

 

[dannyyankou]

Not too sure how much more you can do differently.
So the speaker holes are oval. Even if they’d made them ciruclar would it have been a big deal? People have been making round speakers and round speaker holes for years.
Edges, they surely have to be sharp, chamfered or rounded. Not a lot of choice to distinguish themselves there.
Oval plug hole in the centre. Big deal it follows the shape of the plug - what else did you expect?

It’s a slab with a screen on the front, how much variation do you expect? I mean really. Phones don’t look similar to the iPhone because of what Apple did. They also look that way because there are only so many things you can do within the realms of smart phone design.

Guess what cars still have a wheel at each corner, glass on the front back and sides and doors to facilitate entry. There are only so many changes you can make.

Well for starters, they could've used different screws than the ones Apple invented for their products, lol.

I get it, companies take inspiration from each other and apply it to their own products. Also, phones are starting to look the same and there's less variation between them than 5 years ago. But it's easy to identify which companies are trying to intentionally trying to rip Apple off. Many things about their phones are virtually identical, down to the color options.

 

[ackmondual]

You do realize the iPhone is also made in China? Cell phones that are made in China doesn't necessarily Portray a cheaply made product.

That's a common misconception... that China only makes cheap products. They can make good products. It's just that there's no point because in past decades, Americans were only willing to buy the cheap ones.