By MTHULISI SIBANDA
JOHANNESBURG – HUAWEI, the Chinese smartphone maker, has over the past year shipped over 45 000 units of its milestone-making P9 and P9 Plus flagship smartphones to South Africa, where it is consistently growing its value share.
A total of 1,2 million smartphones from the firm have been shipped to the country.
Officials confirmed as of November 2016, Huawei has a value share of 17,4 percent in South Africa and 10,8 percent volume share.
There has been a 43 percent growth rate in South Africa.
Huawei’s market share is now above 15 percent in 30 countries and above 20 percent in 20 countries.
Besides South Africa, it has also made substantial breakthroughs in key markets such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
Richard Yu, Chief Executive Officer of Huawei Consumer Business Group (CBG) recently announced that the company has shipped more than 10 million Huawei P9/P9 Plus smartphones globally, making it the company’s first flagship series to top the 10-million mark.
Despite a sluggish global smartphone market in 2016, the Huawei P9 and P9 Plus devices have achieved impressive results in the premium segment; a breakthrough that proves Huawei’s investment in international markets is paying off.
First revealed in April 2016, the dual-lens Huawei P9/P9 Plus devices were Huawei’s first flagship smartphones to be developed in collaboration with legendary German camera brand Leica.
This extensive partnership has already set a new benchmark for advanced smartphone camera technology and delivered outstanding photography experiences to consumers.
In the third quarter of 2016, Huawei shipped 33,59 million smartphones, up 23 percent from the previous year, with mid-to-high-end devices accounting for about 44 percent of the shipment.
According to 2016 half year financial results, Huawei CBG, sales were close to 77,4 billion RMB (over US$11,2 billion) in the first half of year, up 41 percent from the same period in 2015.
The growth rate in markets outside of China was 1,6 times that of the Greater China region.
– Guardian