Huawei sharply expanded its market share in a shrinking China smartphone market during Q3, the only vendor in the top five to do so, data from Canalys showed.

The vendor increased shipments by 66 per cent year-on-year (see chart below, click to enlarge), almost doubling its market share in the process. Canalys stated the result was Huawei’s sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth in the country.

VP of mobility Nicole Peng explained Huawei’s dominant position gives it “a lot of power to negotiate with the supply chain and to increase its wallet share within channel partners”.

She added the vendor is also well placed to capitalise on strong operator relationships around 5G, along with its control over “key components such as local network compatible” chips for the technology.

“This puts significant pressure on Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi, which find it very hard to make any breakthrough.”

Huawei, Vivo, ZTE, Xiaomi and Samsung all launched 5G-capable smartphones priced between $500 and $1,000 in Q3, with more products likely to follow in Q4. Canalys expects 5G tariffs and device prices to fall rapidly to attract mass market consumers.