This 2021, Huawei may be facing more challenges. Previously, we were actually thinking about Samsung being in danger because Huawei could overtake the South Korean tech giant. We highly doubt it’s going to happen now. The US trade ban isn’t ending anytime soon even if there is a new President. Some restrictions may be eased but Huawei will be challenged. There is a prediction that Huawei may drop to seventh place in the global smartphone production. Instead of the usual 170 million phones, only 45 million devices will be produced this year.
These are only projections but they can possibly happen. Huawei has already sold off its Honor business unit so the numbers will really go down. Interestingly, global phone production may increase by nine percent although we doubt if Huawei will be able to contribute significantly.
The prediction is that 1.36 billion units will be sold this 2021. As for Huawei, from being the third biggest phone maker in the world, it will go down to seventh place. TrendForce research is saying Huawei’s being cut off from different companies and business will certainly have a huge impact not only to Huawei but to other brands as well.
A drop to 45 million from 170 million is huge. With this change, this also means Huawei’s share of the 5G market will also shrink–possibly to 8 percent from 30 percent. The trade ban and restrictions may be lifted but Huawei may still have a hard time to get back its ranking.
Last year, there was an annual drop of 11 percent but this 2021, phone production may increase to nine percent. Main reason is the increasing demand in emerging markets. There is also that move to return to normal lives anywhere in the world.
With Huawei going down, we can still see Samsung and Apple on top, followed by Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo, and Transsion. These brands will capture about 80 percent of the market.