Huawei To Become World’s Largest Smartphone OEM Within 5 Years Claims CEO
Huawei is one of the largest smartphone players in China, though perhaps more importantly, the company has propelled itself into the number three spot overall in the entire world, behind only a pair of juggernauts in Apple and Samsung. In time, Huawei CEO Richard Yu believes his company can leapfrog both of them.
That's what a confident Yu told The Wall Street Journal in an interview. In no uncertain terms, Yu said the goal is to be the top smartphone supplier on the planet, not number two or number three. And to reach that goal, Yu said it will take "maybe four or five years." Within that time frame, Yu hopes that Huawei will have more than a 20 percent or 25 percent share of the global smartphone market.
"In China, we have quick growth, and in Europe we have very, very fast growth. And globally, the emerging market also has strong growth," Yu said when asked how he plans on beating Apple and Samsung in such a short period of time. "In the U.S. and Japan, we are maybe a little bit behind, but we will catch up... It won't be easy to do. But we have the advantage because we can provide better innovation."
That last bit is a bold claim. While the smartphone market can sometimes feel stale, it's tough to argue that Apple and Samsung aren't innovative, even when they're copying one another. Features like 3D Touch (Apple) and curved edge displays (Samsung) are new to recent generation smartphones, and it seems that each new major release brings at least one major gee-whiz feature to the table.
Nevertheless, Yu is obviously confident that Huawei can compete with the top dogs in mobile, and true to form Huawei has released some high-end handsets that compare well in the premium sector, such as the Mate 8. With Huawei planning to make a splash in the U.S. market, things could get very interesting in a hurry.
That's what a confident Yu told The Wall Street Journal in an interview. In no uncertain terms, Yu said the goal is to be the top smartphone supplier on the planet, not number two or number three. And to reach that goal, Yu said it will take "maybe four or five years." Within that time frame, Yu hopes that Huawei will have more than a 20 percent or 25 percent share of the global smartphone market.
"In China, we have quick growth, and in Europe we have very, very fast growth. And globally, the emerging market also has strong growth," Yu said when asked how he plans on beating Apple and Samsung in such a short period of time. "In the U.S. and Japan, we are maybe a little bit behind, but we will catch up... It won't be easy to do. But we have the advantage because we can provide better innovation."
That last bit is a bold claim. While the smartphone market can sometimes feel stale, it's tough to argue that Apple and Samsung aren't innovative, even when they're copying one another. Features like 3D Touch (Apple) and curved edge displays (Samsung) are new to recent generation smartphones, and it seems that each new major release brings at least one major gee-whiz feature to the table.
Nevertheless, Yu is obviously confident that Huawei can compete with the top dogs in mobile, and true to form Huawei has released some high-end handsets that compare well in the premium sector, such as the Mate 8. With Huawei planning to make a splash in the U.S. market, things could get very interesting in a hurry.
