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Richard Yu (Yu Chengdong), head of Huawei’s consumer business, speaks during the presentation of a Kirin 990 5G chipset at the IFA international electronics and innovation fair in Berlin on September 6, 2019.
Tobias Schwarz | AFP | fake pictures
Huawei’s semiconductor design unit surpassed Qualcomm as China’s number one chip provider for the first time when the impact of the coronavirus on the country’s smartphone market hit the American giant.
The unit, known as HiSilicon, shipped 22.21 million smartphone processors in the first quarter of 2020, roughly in line with the number shipped in the same period last year, according to a new report from China-based CINNO Research. Huawei’s HiSilicon managed to increase its market share to 43.9%, from 24.3% in the first quarter of 2019.
CINNO Research, which tracks the country’s semiconductor market, did not disclose shipping figures for Qualcomm or other providers, but said the U.S. firm’s market share fell to 32.8% in the March quarter, from 48.1% in the same period last year.
HiSilicon designs chips under the Kirin brand that go to Huawei smartphones. Semiconductors are manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
HiSilicon’s growth in China reflects the fact that Huawei has become increasingly focused on its home market since it was blacklisted in the US. USA Last year known as Entity List. That restricted their access to American technology, including Google’s Android operating system. While that’s not a big problem in China, where Google services like Gmail are banned, it has had a major impact on its international consumers who depend on the use of those applications.
As it began to double in China, Huawei’s share of the smartphone market grew. In the first quarter of 2020, its smartphone shipments increased 6% from last year, according to a Counterpoint Research report released Wednesday. Huawei has also been trying to reduce its dependence on American components with its smartphone chips, a key part of that push.
The company’s growth in China has increased its share of the smartphone processor market. But Huawei’s growth also came at the expense of the company’s national rivals, which are some of Qualcomm’s key customers.
In August Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf said Huawei’s focus on the Chinese market was hurting the American company.
“As a result of the export ban, Huawei shifted its emphasis to increasing market share in China’s domestic market, where we do not see corresponding benefits in product or license revenue,” he told investors in a profit call. .
That’s because Qualcomm sells chips to its national Huawei rivals like Xiaomi and Oppo. Both companies saw their shipments decrease in 2019, according to research firm Canalys.
The overall smartphone market weakened further after the coronavirus outbreak closed in most parts of the country for several weeks in the first quarter. In China, mobile phone shipments fell 23.3% in March after a 56% drop in February, official government data showed.
Meanwhile, first-quarter shipments of Apple iPhones likely fell just 1% from a year ago, Counterpoint Research said.
That is in line with CINNO Research’s semiconductor report showing that Apple’s market share in chips remained basically flat. Apple designs its own chips for its smartphones.
