A year ahead of its initial target and Huawei

is officially the new smartphone monarchs after dethroning Samsung in April,

new data suggests.

According to a recently released report from Counterpoint Research, Huawei finished in first place with an impressive 21.4 per cent share of the global smartphone market in April.

It’s the second time the Chinese firm has surpassed its rivals, having declared it would dominate global market share in 2016. Huawei then outpaced iPhone makers Apple in 2018.

“Mission accomplished! In 2016, #Huawei

announced its plan to become the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world

within 5 years. It has now moved ahead of Samsung to claim the #1 spot, with a

21.4% share of the global smartphone market,” the company wrote from its

official Facebook page.

The achievement is impressive as Huawei, like Apple and Samsung, faced falling sales across Europe and the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that forced countless countries to implement some form of lockdown.

Mission accomplished! In 2016, #Huawei announced its plan to become the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world…Posted by

Mission accomplished! In 2016, #Huawei announced its plan to become the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world…Posted by Huawei on Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Counterpoint’s report further noted that

global smartphone shipments in April were 69.37 million units, a year-on-year

decrease of 41 per cent.

“Among them, Samsung’s mobile phone market

share was about 19.1%, and Huawei reached about 21.4%, Huawei has surpassed

Samsung for the first time in history and successfully reached the top position

in the world,” the report indicated.

According to tech analysts Phone Arena, while

Huawei is yet to prove it dominated the global market in May, location and

timing are among two main factors contributing to its success.

“The Chinese company was able to increase its share of the pie thanks to a strong presence in China. Whereas demand for new smartphones collapsed in most international markets, the earlier wave of COVID-19 in China meant the market was already in recovery by April,” Phone Arena argued.

What also remains to be seen is whether Huawei can continue this positive trajectory for the remainder of 2020. Experts, however, say the odds are in the firm’s favour, even if only temporarily.