HUAWEI aims to topple Samsung and Apple in five years

HUAWEI might not be a household name in the United States, but the Chinese company is the third largest smartphone seller in the world behind Samsung and Apple. Today Richard Yu, the head of device business, said that he believes HUAWEI could be number one in just five years.

“We are quite late in the U.S. market,” Yu confessed. And it’s true. To date, the company has only played a small role on U.S. soil, moving a paltry number of phones through online sales. If they really want to take the states, they’ll have to secure partnerships with the country’s major carriers, an endeavor they hope to make progress in over the course of 2016. The goal is to have HUAWEI products sold through one of the big four by the end of the year.

While some may scoff at HUAWEI’s intention to become the leading name in the smartphone industry, a little context may make the naysayers a little more hesitant. As Yu pointed out during a meeting in Barcelona this weekend, “Four years ago, no one knew who we were. Even in China.” The company has vaulted to the upper echelons of the mobile world in just a few short years. Although the path gets steeper and the air thinner at these heights, HUAWEI may just have the momentum to carry themselves all the way to the top.

However, the company faces challenges in addition to the sheer size of its competitors. The global market for smartphones has been cooling as of late, largely due to an oversaturation of the market – especially in China. Yu says they aren’t afraid and that there is still room for growth.

The company believes they already have very solid products and that there’s a market for them, but that a lack of brand recognition is hindering their advancement. Once that hurdle is overcome, HUAWEI expects to become the number two smartphone seller by 2019 at the latest and the number one by 2021.

What do you think of this Chinese mobile giant’s ambitions to overtake Samsung and Apple? A possible world-rocker for the industry, or just a pipe dream? Let us know your opinion in the comments below!