Survey says Huawei passed Apple in global smartphone market for the first time in 2019

A new report from Nikkei Asian Review says Huawei has surpassed Apple with the second-largest market share of the smartphone market for the first time in 2019.

According to the report, Chinese companies "are continuing to expand their presence in the race for dominance in global high-technology markets with a boost from robust domestic demand." The report notes that of 74 high-tech sectors surveyed, China now boasts the largest market share in 12 of them, up from 10 last year. Despite this rise, the U.S. still dominates with the largest market share in 25 such sectors.

Notably, despite US-China trade tensions and an export ban, the Chinese smartphone maker passed Apple for the first time:

The Nikkei survey shows it took second place in the smartphone market, expanding its share to 17.6%, up 2.9 percentage points, surpassing Apple for the first time and narrowing the gap with top-ranked Samsung Electronics of South Korea.

The report further notes that Huawei's most recent quarter market share was 20%, again up on the same period last year. The report emphasizes further this massive shift in the smartphone market in recent years:

Five years ago, Samsung and Apple held a combined 39% of the global smartphone market, whereas Huawei only accounted for about a 5% share. In 2019, Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo -- all from China -- had a combined 35% share in a sign of the changing lineup of main players.

You can read the full report here.