Huawei charts rise as globally-recognised premium consumer brand

Huawei’s rise as a globally recognised premium consumer brand continues apace, with global top-50 accolades such as being placed No. 49 on brand consultancy BrandZ’s Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands in 2017, and No. 40 on BrandFinance's world's Top 500 Most Valuable Global Brands in 2017. The company says it wants to focus on delighting customers, challenging the industry, and building a better connected world.

Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group, said, “Our Consumer Business Group continued to deliver extraordinary growth, beating the industry average and penetrating high-end markets around the globe. This ongoing growth is testament to the strength of the Huawei brand and the momentum we’ve built through delivering premium, market-redefining devices that resonate with today’s discerning consumers.”

The Huawei Consumer Business Group has announced that 73.01 million smartphones were shipped for 1H17, an increase of 20.6%. Huawei had 9.8% of global smartphone market share in Q117, according to IDC. This growth was driven by a significant increase in sales of mid-range and high-end smartphones in key geographies. In Greater China, Huawei laid claim to 22.1% of the market, and saw shipments increase by 24% year-on-year (YoY).

The Huawei division also reported "major breakthroughs in Asia-Pacific markets including Thailand, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea", with over 45% shipment growth YoY. The Asia-Pacific region for Huawei Consumer Business Group covers Southeast Asia, Central Asia as well as Japan and South Korea.

Meanwhile, research from GfK and Sino states that Huawei’s Honor brand consecutively topped both the Internet smartphone sales volume and sales revenue rankings in China from January to May, 2017.

“Huawei devices have resonated with global audiences because of our clear commitment to quality, experience and innovation,” said Yu. “With a robust consumer devices ecosystem that includes critically acclaimed smartphones, tablets, wearables and now PCs, consumers know that they can trust Huawei to deliver the kind of experience they’re looking for in a premium device.”

Source: Huawei infographic. Huawei will focus on AI and machine intelligence across chipsets, devices and the cloud to delight customers.

As part of its expansion strategy Huawei plans to grow its retail network from 42,300 to 56,000 retail stores worldwide by the end of 2017 – an increase from 35,000 in May 2016. These stores reflect the high-end, premium image that Huawei has cultivated around the world. There are currently 52 high-end experience stores in Malaysia, 41 in Thailand, and 2,000 in Greater China.

Localisation is a commitment, with over 800 service stores in more than 60 countries, localised websites and apps for 100-plus countries, and services hotlines in 105 countries, supported in 64 languages.

Source: Huawei infographic. Huawei's global retail network for
the Consumer Business Group.

The Huawei Consumer Business Group is committing to delivering intelligent devices that anticipate users’ needs and fit more organically into the way people work and live, predicting that by 2025, over 90% of smart device users will benefit from personalised and intelligent assistant services. The company named artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning as key focuses for innovation, using the equation "smartphone + artificial intelligence = intelligent phone".

Across its 15 global research centres and 36 joint innovation centres Huawei is working on new technologies including sensors, data management and advances to its Kirin chipset that are designed to bring the promised functionality to the marketplace. Expect higher efficiency and security from chipsets, and improved sensing and execution from Huawei devices. The cloud will be leveraged for recognition and learning enabled by AI and machine learning. Huawei is also complementing its own innovation by collaborating with companies such as Leica, Dolby, Microsoft, Intel and Google.

The Huawei Consumer Business Group is one of Huawei’s three business units and covers smartphones, PC and tablets, wearables, mobile broadband devices, family devices and device cloud services. Products and services from the Huawei Consumer Business Group are available in more than 170 countries, and are used by a third of the world’s population. In Asia-Pacific the division has R&D centres in India and China.