Huawei surpassed Apple in smartphone sales for 2019, trailing Samsung

Samsung lead the pack with nearly 300 million units sold.

What you need to know

• Huawei took the second-place spot in the smartphone market from Apple in 2019.
• It raked in sales of 238.5 million units, compared to Apple’s 196.2 million.
• The biggest winner, though, was Samsung, with 296.5 million shipments during the year.

Despite overwhelming pressure by the U.S., Huawei says it can handle anything else the Trump administration throws its way. And the numbers seem to bear that out.

Earlier estimates of Huawei’s unit sales during 2019 pegged the number to an impressive 240 million. That estimate has now been corroborated by Counterpoint Research, one of the leading market research firms in the tech world.

The Hong Kong-based firm estimates that Huawei sold 238.5 million phones during 2019. Not only is that much better than the Chinese giant’s own expectations following its addition to the U.S. Entity List, but the number also marks the first time Huawei has surpassed Apple in overall sales during a calendar year.

In comparison, the Cupertino-based peddler of iPhones sold only 196.2 million units. Samsung, of course, reigns supreme in the smartphone world, with nearly 300 million units sold. However, that position is in under increasing pressure from the Chinese aspirant, with Huawei’s year-on-year growth of 16.2% shaming Samsung’s meager 1.6%.

The other growth superstar during the year was none other than Indian startup Realme, which has trailblazed a path for itself into the top ten phone makers, thanks to explosive year-on-year growth of 453%.

New U.S. Huawei ban pulled amid Pentagon disagreement