Although Samsung, for years the undisputed number one was in smartphone land, the Korean smartphone manufacturer has gained strong competition from other Android manufacturers in recent years. The company that has shown the most growth and therefore represents the greatest threat to the only ruling Samsung is the Chinese Huawei.
Huawei and Samsung
Huawei is traditionally more known for its network equipment. In 2004, for example, the company broke through on the Dutch and therefore the European market, when it received an important order from Telfort. From 2012 the company also offers Android smartphones and tablets for the European market. The Chinese manufacturer immediately opted for an active and even somewhat aggressive approach towards its competitors. Huawei likes to involve the media in its power game.
In 2013, during an interview, CEO Wan Biao said that Huawei would at least enter the Top 3 of the worldwide smartphone market within five years and perhaps even be number one. This was certainly not the last time that key senior officials within Huawei made such statements. In the years that followed, online marketing was an important part of the business strategy, and not without success.
Last year the CEO, Richard Lu, made it clear that Huawei aims to surpass Samsung by 2020. In the meantime, the Chinese manufacturer has already surpassed Number 2, Apple. It is therefore not inconceivable that Samsung will eventually have to believe it. Even in press conferences, the top executive does not hesitate to compare her wonderful new products with those of their competitors, who obviously always get worse.
With the arrival of the foldable smartphone, the cards will be shuffled again. Samsung thought to be the first to cross the finish line but had to postpone the launch of the Galaxy Fold at the last minute. An investigation is still underway into the flexible screen, which in some cases has defects, as the first review examples made clear.
Huawei, in turn, introduced the Mate X almost simultaneously, but nothing has been announced about the launch of Huawei’s first foldable smartphone, apart from ‘this summer’. Eventually, more and more models and form factors will be introduced, and the foldable telephones will become much cheaper.
The battle for titans will undoubtedly continue unabated in the coming years, but this is not bad news for consumers. Finally, fierce competition ensures that we can buy the best products at the cheapest possible prices.
