What trade ban? Q3 2019 reports make you wonder what could've been for HUAWEI

There’s no doubting that Huawei is still under pressure due to the US trade ban against it. But you might not know it based on the latest Q3 2019 shipment figures.

Reports by Counterpoint Research and Canalys both show that HUAWEI has enjoyed annual growth of almost 30% in Q3 2019. Meanwhile, top-placed Samsung saw annual growth of 11% or 8.4%, depending on which report you’re looking at. Either way, both tracking firms show that the Chinese brand is closing the gap to Samsung.

Huawei’s performance is extremely impressive given the trade ban against the firm. The company is unable to ship Google services on new phones, while it’s also had to source components from partners outside the US. The manufacturer has turned to China in a bid to drive sales, as phones in this market don’t use Google services.

Canalys adds that HUAWEI was also able to boost overseas shipments in this quarter, as partners resumed purchases of devices following a freeze in Q2.

This isn’t necessarily a sign of things to come though, as Canalys senior analyst Ben Stanton said HUAWEI’s overseas shipments in Q3 were largely limited to devices certified before the trade ban. The Mate 30 series was the first high profile HUAWEI device family to lack Google services, and HUAWEI has been forced to delay launches in key Western markets. Partners also seem hesitant to offer the new flagship family due to the lack of Google integration.

In fact, Counterpoint associate director Tarun Pathak says the lack of new HUAWEI devices with Google services is creating an opportunity for the likes of Samsung and Xiaomi to steal market-share. In any event, HUAWEI’s performance so far really does make you wonder what could’ve been had the trade ban not been in effect. Could it have passed Samsung as the number one manufacturer?

What about other brands?

As for the rest of the top five, both tracking firms listed Apple in third place, while there was a tussle between Xiaomi and OPPO for the fourth and fifth spots.

Realme remains the strongest performer in terms of year-on-year growth according to Counterpoint, coming in at number seven. This means the brand is ahead of Motorola and LG, after just over a year on the market (albeit with BBK’s assistance).

Speaking of BBK, Counterpoint adds that the Chinese conglomerate is close to becoming the number one smartphone manufacturer globally. The company counts OPPO, vivo, OnePlus, and realme in its stable.