Huawei Led the Global Rise of Chinese Smartphone Brands in 2015

Huawei tops Chinese market with shipments surpassing 100 million for the first time; other Chinese vendors also registered large shipment growth

Huawei in recent years has invested heavily in R&D. With its semiconductor subsidiary HiSilicon, Huawei is able to make its own mobile processors and accumulate intellectual properties related to mobile chipsets. As a result, Huawei has been able expand into foreign markets while avoiding patent litigations with its competitors. The Chinese vendor has also been able to match major international brands in product quality and features. Huawei currently reserves its in-house mobile processors, the Kirin series, for its high-end smartphones while continuing to collaborate with Qualcomm and MediaTek in the mid-range and low-end markets. Lastly, the vendor has also maintained good relations with telecom operators worldwide.

Huawei’s smartphone shipments broke the 100 million unit mark for the first time in 2015, arriving at 108 million units. With a huge annual shipment growth of about 49%, Huawei replaced its compatriot rival Lenovo as the world’s third largest smartphone vendor. The vendor’s shipment target for 2016 is set at 130 million units.

Though known for offering products with high cost-performance ratios, Xiaomi was unable to make significant headways in foreign markets during 2015. A major obstacle to Xiaomi’s overseas expansion plan is the lack of intellectual properties, and this problem actually resulted in several of the vendor’s smartphone models being banned in India. Xiaomi’s position in the domestic market is also under threat as other Chinese vendors adopt the same sales strategy it developed. The Mi Note series was an opportunity for Xiaomi to move upmarket, but their sales were lackluster. Beset by these challenges, Xiaomi failed to achieve its annual shipment target of 100 million units. While the vendor’s shipments for 2015 totaled just 72 million units, the year-on-year growth rate reached at 17.8%. The vendor took fourth place in the 2015 global ranking.

Lenovo’s smartphone shipments surged in 2014 to almost 92 million units in 2014 on account of its acquisition of Motorola’s smartphone unit. However, the vendor’s shipments for 2015 are estimated to be around 70 million units, which also amount to a year-on-year drop of nearly 24%. The projected results for 2015 indicate that the positive effect of Lenovo-Motorola deal has yet to extend beyond the aggregation of smartphone shipments from both brands. On other hand, Lenovo will carry on with the restructuring of its smartphone business in 2016. By focusing on innovative designs and closer collaboration with Google, the Chinese vendor may have chance for a comeback this year.