Phonemakers with market share over 15% may survive in long-run: Huawei

Huawei is forging closer commercial ties with big telecom operators across Asia, the Americas and Europe, putting the company in prime position to lead the global race for future 5G networks

The smartphone industry is bound to consolidate as the heavy investments required to remain competitive mean that, in the long-run, only a handful of firms can make money, the consumer chief of China’s Huawei said on Sunday. 

Richard Yu, chief executive of Huawei’s consumer business group, said anyone at this stage in the decade-old industry’s history that had less than 10 per cent market share was losing money. Huawei is the world’s third-biggest smartphone maker, trailing leaders Samsung and Apple, with a 10.2 per cent market share in the fourth quarter, according to market surveys from IDC and Strategy Analytics. “In