Huawei overtook Samsung to take the leading position in the Russian smartphone market in the second half of 2019, as consumers flocked to purchase the Chinese telecommunications firm’s affordable handsets. And Apple’s iPhone continues to lose market share in the country.
During the second half of 2019, Huawei shipped 5.4 million smartphones to Russia, a 145% increase from 2.2 million in the second half of 2018, according to the new Omdia report, Smartphone Market Report – Russia – H1 2019 .
Huawei’s share totaled 31.7 percent in the third quarter and 29.3 percent in the fourth quarter, allowing the company to overtake market leader Samsung by 3.2 and 4.2 percentage points in the third and fourth quarters respectively. For the entire second half, the China-based company shipped 600,000 more units than Samsung
“Before 2017, the dominant smartphone brands in the Russian market were Samsung and Apple,” says Anna Ahrens, senior analyst, smartphone and mobile, for Omdia. “Huawei entered the Russian market in 2015, marking the company’s first overseas foray. During the past two years, Huawei has dramatically increased its market share in the country, overtaking Apple in the fourth quarter 2018 and surpassing Samsung in the second half of 2019.”
For the whole year of 2019, Samsung retained its market leadership position for a second year in a row, with a 27.8 % share of shipments in 2019, up from 23.6% in 2018. The company shipped 9.5 million smartphones, its best-ever result in the Russian market
Huawei closely followed Samsung with a 26% market share, up from 18% in 2018. Apple remained number three, although its market share declined for a second year in a row, from 21.9% in 2017, to 19.5% in 2018, and 13.4% in 2019. According to Omdia, Apple’s premium pricing strategy “does not correspond with the latest Russian market developments,” and the brand is losing volume to manufacturers that have a broad mid-range lineup, like Samsung or Huawei.
