Huawei sold 200 million phones in Controversy Year
Despite a year filled with controversy and growing tensions with the US, Huawei sold 200 million smartphones in 2018. The Chinese manufacturer confirmed the sales figures today, which represent an increase of around 31 percent compared to 2017.
The 200 million smartphones sold this year is a record for Huawei. In 2017, the manufacturer of the P20 Pro and the Mate 20 Pro, sold 153 million smartphones. Huawei is currently the second largest manufacturer of smartphones, behind Samsung.
In a statement, the brand said: “In the global smartphone market, Huawei has gone from being dismissed as a statistical ‘other’ to ranking among the top 3 players in the world.”
Huawei also said that it currently has 500 million active smartphones spread across 170 different countries worldwide. The company has ambitions to overtake Samsung to become the world’s largest phone maker by the end of 2019 and says it is on track to achieve that target.
The Chinese brand’s sales have benefitted from strong performance from its flagships. Huawei sold 16 million units of its P20 Pro this year, as well as five million units from the Mate 20 line.
It seems that a year of controversy has not hurt Huawei in terms of sales. Tensions with Washington escalated this year over US suspicions over Huawei’s ties to the Chinese government. The brand is effectively blocked from the US market, and allies are starting to follow suit under pressure from US officials.
Huawei also had to deal with its CFO, Meng Wanzhou, being arrested in Canada this year on charges of committing fraud in breach of US sanctions. Meng is currently on bail as she fights an extradition order to the US.
In the UK, Huawei’s 5G network infrastructure is being stripped out and the company is being kept well away from auctions for future 5G networks.
What do you think about Huawei’s success despite the company’s problems in the US and Europe? Let us know in the comments below.