Huawei smartphone shipments plummet amid US sanctions

China smartphone shipments slipped 4% in the December quarter, data showed, as shipments at Huawei plunged due to US sanctions on the Chinese firm’s chip and component suppliers.

China's market share for the company slumped to 22% from 38% in the year-ago quarter, data from research firm Canalys showed. The company remained the market leader, however, with a slim lead over closest rival Oppo.

Its domestic shipments fell 44% to 18.8 million smartphones, and global shipments fell 43% to 32 million smartphones.

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In May, Washington imposed a new round of measures that effectively prevented companies with US-origin technology from selling to Huawei.

In the fourth quarter, shipments from Apple and Huawei’s domestic rivals Oppo and Vivo grew at a rapid clip, both by roughly a fifth, and Xiaomi Corp’s shipments grew 52%.

Still, China’s overall smartphone market shrank 11% in 2020.

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“Huawei could have done another 30 or 40 million units this year were it not for the supply issue,” said Nicole Peng, who tracks China’s smartphone sector at Canalys.

“Meanwhile other brands cannot fill the gap because component supplies are not ramping up quickly enough.”