In the smartphone industry, we typically think of big players like Apple and Samsung first, then second-tier players like LG and Motorola. However, Chinese company Huawei, best known to Android fans in the United States as the maker of the Nexus 6P, was a major winner in the smartphone market in 2015.
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GizmoChina brings us word that Huawei shipped 100 million smartphones in 2015, most of which were not sold in the United States. While we may be most familiar with the high-end Nexus 6P, Huawei also sells a huge variety of devices in its homeland including the flagship Ascend Mate 8, the mid-range Honor 7 and the budget model Honor Play 4C. Unlike rival Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi, Huawei does sell its smartphones at prices that should net it some profit given their total hardware costs.
The question now is whether Huawei will try to make more inroads in the United States and other Western markets in 2016. The Nexus 6P was a great introduction for Huawei to many American users and it could open up the opportunity for the company to build more of a presence in the future. All the same, we wouldn’t expect Huawei to go head-to-head with the likes of Samsung in the U.S. next year, but it’s nonetheless a company to keep an eye on.
