Huawei’s rise as one of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturers has been nothing short of spectacular. The Chinese conglomerate in recent years has managed to carve a significant market share in the global smartphone market.
Speaking to the media after the Huawei P30 and P30 Pro launch event, Huawei Consumer Group CEO Richard Yu said that the company is aiming to surpass Apple and Samsung as the world’s biggest smartphone brand by the end of 2020. This is despite the fact that Huawei has no presence in the United States, Brazil and South Korea.
Huawei and its sub-brand Honor, when combined, is possibly already the world’s largest smartphone brand in terms of sales. Honor is currently the second largest smartphone brand in China and the fourth largest worldwide.
Huawei was the the third biggest smartphone brand globally in 2018, slightly trailing Apple but behind Samsung by a significant margin. Huawei is also aiming to achieve $100 billion in smartphone sales by 2022, and $150 billion by 2024.
Yu is confident that Huawei will achieve its ambitious target of toppling Samsung and Apple, adding that the company has set aside $6 billion for smartphone research and development this year. The company’s investment in R&D is certainly paying off. For instance, the just released Huawei P30 Pro is adjudged as one of the best camera smartphones with its new RYYB sensor and 50x zoom.
As for Huawei’s controversies with the United States, including the banning of sales of telecommunications equipment, Yu said that the company gained media attention from its standoff with the world’s largest economy. “Many people have never heard of Huawei, but now everyone knows Huawei,” he added.