Huawei’s market share is the lowest ever, the No. 2 ambition in Vietnam is hard to achieve

GfK’s report shows that, in October 2019, Huawei’s smartphone market share in Vietnam was just over 1%, the lowest in the past two years. At the beginning of the year, the company was ranked 4th among the major smartphone brands, but soon it dropped gradually when it was at the center of the US-China trade war.

After peaking earlier this year, Huawei’s smartphone market share in Vietnam plummeted in the following months. (Data: GfK, graphic: H.Đ)

In January and February of this year, Huawei first reached 5.6% and 5.5% of the smartphone market share in Vietnam, ranked fourth in the market, just behind Apple – the third ranked firm – approximately 2 %. At that time, with the investment in products and marketing communications, the Chinese smartphone company was forecast to be able to surpass Apple to win the No. 3 position.

After peaking in the first two months of the year, Huawei slightly reduced its market share a few months later, and began to plummet since May – a time when Google announced it would not support Android copyright for Huawei products.

In the first 10 months of 2019, Huawei’s market share decreased to 3%, lower than the same period last year (4.3%). Thus, with a market share of just over 1% recently, the company has dropped to the lowest level in the past two years, and may be the worst time for the company since its presence in Vietnam.

A person was holding Huawei’s Mate 20 Pro when it was launched in Vietnam. Photo: H.D

At this stage two years ago, Huawei CBG Vietnam (Huawei Consumer Business Group, responsible for selling consumer products, including smartphones) replaced the new director. The director of Huawei CBG Vietnam at that time was aiming to be No. 2 in Vietnam’s smartphone market by 2020. Huawei at that time was ranked No. 1 in China, ranked in the top 3 global smartphone companies, so the goal No. 2 in one Some country is quite easy to understand. However, to reach No. 2 in Vietnam, which surpasses Oppo, is a difficult task.

However, with a diverse product range, quality, competitive prices, the goal of surpassing Apple to No. 3 in Vietnam seems reasonable to Huawei. It nearly reached that goal until it became a major player in the U.S.-China trade war, in which the United States thought Huawei products could harm national security, leading to a series of purging moves. running of American technology companies and allied countries.

Currently, Huawei seems to be returning to the starting point, and it is more difficult than before due to the lack of Android operating system on its smartphones. Huawei’s # 2 goal in Vietnam for 2020 is definitely hard to come true.

Without a license to use Google’s Android, Huawei smartphones lose their advantage. During this period in Vietnam, the company only launched a few mid-range smartphones, and some accessories such as Bluetooth headsets, smart watches; No high-end smartphones have been sold yet.

Perhaps Huawei needs a long enough time to improve the situation now.