Robert Triggs / Android Authority
TL;DR
- A Huawei executive said Apple and Huawei would’ve been the only top players without US sanctions.
- The executive dismissed Samsung as a “small” manufacturer in this scenario.
It’s been roughly four years since Huawei was subjected to US sanctions, resulting in the company tumbling from its number two status in the smartphone industry (but not before briefly reaching the top spot due to the pandemic). Now, a high-ranking Huawei executive has made some lofty claims about what could’ve been.
“If it weren’t for the US’s intervention and suppression of us, the world’s major mobile phone manufacturers might be Huawei and Apple. I am not very modest, and this may be the result today,” Huawei consumer business group CEO Richard Yu claimed at an automotive forum in China (h/t: IT Home and MyDrivers).
Where would this leave Samsung, though? Yu suggested that the Galaxy phone maker wouldn’t be a factor.
Do you think Huawei would’ve beaten Samsung without the US ban?
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“Others are small manufacturers, including the Korean company (Samsung), which may be mainly sold in the US and South Korea markets,” Yu answered, according to a machine-translated excerpt.
Of course, it’s worth noting that Samsung was actually the top manufacturer in Q1 2019 (the last quarter before Huawei’s US ban), followed by Huawei and then Apple. In saying so, the Chinese brand reportedly enjoyed 50% yearly growth at the time and publicly stated its goal of moving past Samsung to take the top spot. But it’s definitely fair to say that Samsung wasn’t a “small manufacturer.”
Do you think Huawei would’ve beaten Samsung and taken the number one spot if US sanctions didn’t come into play? Let us know via the poll above.
