Huawei said that its handset business recorded revenue of $7.23 billion in the first half of 2015, a year-on-year increase of 87 per cent, reflecting its strategy of “focusing on mid-to high-end handsets, which contributed to both an increase in shipments and average selling price”.

The strength has led the company to raise its expected revenue total for the year to $20 billion from $16 billion, Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei’s Consumer group, said.

“With our consistent and huge investment in R&D, Huawei is set to become one of the key players in the long-run,” he continued.

During the period, the company shipped a total of 48.2 million smartphones, a year-on-year increase of 39 per cent – at a time when market growth was around 7 per cent. Shipments for the “mid-to high-end” line increased 70 per cent year-on-year, while revenue increased by 388 per cent, with profit from this category representing 44 per cent of the division’s total.

With regard to specific devices, the company said it had shipped a global total of 5 million units of its Mate7 phablet, with sales in more than 100 countries. Last year’s flagship, P7, topped 7 million units – although the company had mooted a target of 10 million.

More than one million units of its latest flagship, P8, have been sold in the first two months since launch, with availability in more than 52 markets. And Honor6 Plus has passed the 3 million mark.

The company said that it global strategy “continues to stimulate stable business growth in both China and overseas markets”. Citing figures from GfK, Huawei said that its share of the global smartphone market has increased steadily from 6.7 per cent in January to 8.8 per cent in May.

In total, Huawei’s Consumer unit saw first half revenue of $9.09 billion, a 69 per cent year-on-year increase, representing 32 per cent of Huawei’s total revenue (up from 24 per cent).

Looking forward, the company said it will look to “capitalise on the opportunities presented by the ‘all things connected’ era.” The company has already focused heavily on wearables at Mobile World Congress 2015.

It also highlighted a number of “strategic partnerships with major automobile brands”, including Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi, with the latter two appointing their third-party suppliers to use Huawei vehicle-mounted 4G modules in future in-car networking equipment.

The company said it “aims to be the leading player in the interconnected cars industry and promote interaction among cars, smartphones and wearables to create seamless communications and a comfortable and safe driving experience for users”.