Outperforming the industry with strong overseas growth
Johannesburg, South Africa – 28 July 2016: Huawei Consumer Business Group announced today its 2016 half year financial results: Sales revenue in the first half of 2016 increased by 41% year-on-year to USD $11.6 billion. Smartphone shipments stood at 60.56 million, a year-on-year increase of 25%. According to IDC, global smartphone shipments in the first half of 2016 increased by just 3.1%, indicating that Huawei’s growth has significantly outperformed the market.
Huawei Consumer Business Group Chief Executive Officer Richard Yu said, “We saw particularly fast growth in traditionally high-end smartphone markets such as Europe and emerging markets including North Africa, Central Asia & Latin America.”
“We have continued to maintain healthy growth within the highly competitive smartphone market, which is testament to Huawei’s long-term commitment to innovation, anticipation of consumer trend and dual strategy of focusing on both domestic and international markets. Looking to the future, we will continue to work with our industry partners to offer consumers excellent levels of service and develop innovative new products that combine technology, quality and style.”
Optimized revenue structure sees overseas growth surpassing domestic growth
In the first half of 2016, Huawei Consumer Business Group further optimized its revenue structure, resulting in overseas markets seeing 1.6x faster growth growth than that of in mainland China. According to GFK, by the end of May 2016, Huawei’s share of the global smartphone market reached 11.4%[1]. Among the USD $500-$600 smartphone range, Huawei’s share share increased by 10%[2].
Particularly strong results were recorded in European smartphone markets as well as significant breakthroughs in the high-end market. According to GFK, Huawei’s smartphone market share has reached over 15% in some European countries. In the traditionally high-end market, such as UK, Germany and France, Huawei has achieved breakthrough in high-end market as well.
In key countries from North Africa and South Pacific, Huawei saw significant market share growth. In Egypt, Huawei’s smartphone market share has reached over 20%. While in South Africa, Hauwei has grown by 38% when compared to the same period last year (January to May 2016) according to GFK.
“Following European trends our growth has largely been in the G, P and M series in the $200 -$700 price band. We will continue to innovate at the high end and capture premium users says Charlene Munilall, GM of Huawei Consumer Business Group South Africa.
Strong sales growth was also achieved in emerging markets in Latin America and Central Asia where in some countries, Huawei’s year-on-year smartphone sales have doubled.
In China, Huawei continued to cement itself as the industry leader with a smartphone market share of 18.6% according to GFK report in June.
Huawei is focusing on meaningful innovation
Having consistently demonstrated significant sales growth, Huawei Consumer Business Group continues to show a deep commitment to innovation in research and development from its R&D centers around the world, alongside repeated breakthroughs with its products, channels and brands.
Huawei’s flagship products, such as the P9, Mate 8, Honor V8 and MateBook, have been well-received by consumers worldwide. Sales volume of the Mate 8 increased by 65% when compared with sales of the Mate 7 during the same period in 2015. Furthermore, 4.5 million P9 and P9 Plus devices have also been sold, of which the number of devices sold internationally increased by 120% when compared with sales of the P8 during the same period in 2015. MateBook, Huawei’s first 2-in-1 notebook product, has been made available in many countries worldwide and it is expected to be available in the Middle East Africa by the third quarter of 2016.
Huawei Consumer Business Group continues to uphold its strategic commitments worldwide. As of May 2016, there were 35,000 retail stores around the world offering Huawei products, an increase of 116% on the same period last year. And according to GFK, Huawei global shops coverage has reached about 150 thousand globally.
Additionally, Huawei is continuing to emphasize the importance of their customer service offering. With 394 service centers located around the world and 21 across the MEA region including the newly opened Kuwait, Qatar and flagship UAE centers, customers are ensured quality, direct and transparent communication with Huawei.
The brand has endeavored to continue investing marketing resources in sports, lifestyle, fashion and entertainment, amongst other categories, which helps to bring the brand to life and connect with consumers across the globe, increasing awareness and recognition of Huawei worldwide. Huawei also continues to work with many market-leading partners including Leica, Swarovski, Harman Kardon, Audi, Google, Microsoft and Intel, amongst others, to offer consumers advanced industry innovation.
In 2016, Huawei was once again named in the BrandZTM Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands. Huawei’s value of US$18,652 billion saw the brand leap from 70th position in 2015 to 50th in 2016.
Huawei is well-positioned to continue its presence in the smartphone, wearable, smart home and cloud markets, becoming itself into an end-to-end solutions and platform service provider, and offering consumers a more convenient and intelligent way to connect their lives.
[1] Source: GFK, May
[2] Source: GFK, June
