Huawei reclaims lost ground in Chinese market in Q1
People browse in a Huawei store for Mate 60 products in Shanghai.
With domestic sales of all smartphones rebounding in the first quarter of 2024, Huawei regained a top position in the Chinese smartphone market, according to published research.
Huawei, which lost the top position after it faced strict US tech sanctions, led the top five in data from Canalys, and first-equal with Honor in data from International Data Corp. Both showed Huawei with market share of about 17 percent.
The other brands in the top five are OPPO, Apple, and Vivo.
After two year's in which sales declined, the domestic market saw a rebound of 6.5 percent with sales of 69.3 million units in the quarter, according to the IDC.
IDC data shows its top five smartphone brands in China in the first quarter.
Huawei's resurgence can be attributed the success of the Mate 60 Pro, Huawei's flagship phone launched in late 2023. This premium device boasts an in-house Kirin chip, a powerful processor that was previously unavailable due to US sanctions. The return of the Kirin chipset instilled confidence in loyal Huawei users, offering them a familiar and trusted experience.
That market recovery allowed Huawei to seize market share and quickly reclaim lost ground. The production and supply shortage of the Mate 60 series improved in the first quarter, propelling it to become the key driver of Huawei's overall growth. In addition to the high-end lineup, Huawei released the nova 12 series in December, which features Harmony 4.0, expanding the Kirin chipset to more product lines and successfully boosting performance in the mid-range price band, said Canalys senior analyst Toby Zhu.
In April, Huawei also launched the long-awaited Pura 70, featuring an innovative pop-out camera lens, further sparking market interest.
