Huawei handset shipments survive worst moment, says Taiwan agent

The worst moment for Huawei's handset shipments has gone, and the Chinese vendor still has a chance of approaching its annual sales goal of 270 million units in 2019, further strengthening its cooperation with Taiwanese supply chain partners, according to Xunwei Technologies, Huawei's sole sales agent in Taiwan.

Xunwei president Yung Hai said that impacted by the US trade ban, Huawei's handset sales in Taiwan hit the bottom in June, and Taiwan's telecom operators have renewed pull-in of handset shipments from Huawei since the start of July.

Yung pointed out that Huawei's handset sales in non-English countries and regions including Russia and South Korea were less affected by the US trade sanctions. He estimated Huawei's handset sales in the China market alone at nearly 200 million units in 2019, allowing the vendor to fulfill the annual sales goal of 270 million units, up from 206 million in 2018.

To counter the trade ban, Yung continued, Huawei has significantly increased its purchases from Taiwan IC supply chain partners, with annual purchases to exceed US$20 billion.

Huawei's 5G smartphones will be introduced into Taiwan in 2020 at the earliest, Yung continued, adding that he expects the overall replacement demand for 5G handsets to emerge soon after the launch of the new-generation models.

Huawei has also readied deployments in many segments in the 5G era integrating AI, big data and cloud applications, terminal devices, and ecosystems, including tablets, PCs, TVs, wearable devices, in-auto devices and headphones, as well as mobile offices, video entertainment and smart mobility, according to Yung.