JOHANNESBURG - Whilst global brands Apple and Samsung continue to battle it out for top spot in the smartphone space, another contender has managed to stealthily climb up the ladder and establish their brand as new heavyweight in the sector.
Huawei has shown significant growth, becoming the third largest smartphone manufacturer globally as well as holding third position in terms of market share in South Africa.
JOHANNESBURG - Speaking from the Huawei office in Sandton, the global COO of the company, Mr Biao Wan told Business Report how pleased he was with the growth of the market share in South Africa.
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Wan said, “South Africa is very important for the Huawei group. The success that we have experienced has been phenomenal. Huawei SA has increased sales of our flagship P-series devices. The first month of sales of the P10 and P10 Plus saw an 68% increase as compared to the same period last year with the P9. We feel this is due to increasing consumer confidence in the Huawei brand and premium product segment.”
Likun Zhao, General Manager of Huawei Consumer Business Group South Africa who was also present applauded the quality of their product, saying that consumers were sold in the store, after seeing the capabilities of their flagship product, the P10.
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Zhao said, “We are hoping that with the launch of our new Mate Series which will be available in South Africa later this year in November, it will be met with the same enthusiasm by the South African market. Sales for the P10 tripled when compared to the P9 and with our new product, we will be hoping to rival iphone and Samsung with the Artificial Intelligence capabilities that will feature on the new Mate Series.
Likun Zhao, General Manager of Huawei Consumer Business Group South Africa.
When asked why he thought South Africans reacted so well to their products, he simply said that one test of their smart phone, in the store, convinces the consumer that their smart phone is the better option.
Zhao added, “The quality of our cameras, built into our smart phones, is very evident. We have a dual camera capability, one camera that takes images in colour and another that takes pictures in black and white, which fits into the needs of our customers. Another strong capability that I feel convinces our users is the power of our battery. Smart phones usually drain batteries at a rapid pace, but with Huawei products, the batteries can handle the needs of a smart phone. Our super charger supplements this very well also. You can charge your phone for about 30 minutes and the phones power levels will reach 80%.
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Biao Wan concluded by saying that the main focus of Huawei is based around four components, these components being, life, entertainment, office, and home solutions.
Wan further said, “We at Huawei believe in providing our consumers with a smart life in technology. You can never say where technology will move to next, but we believe strongly in our upcoming Artificial intelligence (AI) and VR solutions. This is testament to the innovations that we can come up with. AI will be able to change your lifestyle, and in some instances, replace a human being all together.
Huawei remains in third position in terms of market share in South Africa: the Effective Measure South Africa Mobile Report 2017 indicates that Samsung remains the dominant mobile phone brand in South Africa with 40% market share, Apple is second on 10%, followed by Huawei on 9%.