Breaking the Apple-Samsung duopoly in the US will be 'prohibitively difficult' for Huawei

by Daniel Petrov / Dec 21, 2017, 4:42 AM

Breaking the Apple-Samsung duopoly in the US will be 'prohibitively difficult' for Huawei

If you look at the latest US mobile market share data, two brands pop up - Apple and Samsung - which together account for the vast majority of phones sold on US carriers. The rest, like LG, Motorola, HTC, ZTE or Google's Pixels, are left fighting over bread crumbs. Intent to break that duopoly, the world's third-largest cell phone maker Huawei announced its grand plans to enter the US market recently, starting with the flagship Mate 10 line.

Analysts, however, are rather skeptical about its chances to lure people away from either Samsung or Apple, and are in fact predicting that it will be "almost prohibitively difficult" for the company to make US customers pick Huawei's high-end phones with a carrier plan if it doesn't plan to compete on price, as CEO Richard Yu suggested. "If you come down a few hundred dollars then it [the market] looks completely different. There’s a huge customer segment that can afford $10 or $20 per month rather than $30 or $40 per month," according to analyst Roger Entner.

We'll have to wait and see how will the Mate 10 and 10 Pro be priced on AT&T, and, perhaps, Verizon as well, but the phones are perfectly capable of holding well on their own. The 10 Pro offers the best battery life in its class, a very capable dual camera that is only a notch below the iPhone X or Note 8 snappers, and has a 80%+ screen-to-body ratio on a premium glass design. In other words, it ticks all the desirable boxes, so we wouldn't discount Huawei as a worthy competitor of Apple and Samsung in the US just yet.

source: MWL

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27 Comments

1. notfair

Posts: 776; Member since: Jan 30, 2017

Competition is always good. when the US citizen will see that they can buy the same sh*t at a lower price maybe they will switch.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 5:01 AM 4

2. piyath

Posts: 2445; Member since: Mar 23, 2012

I think Huawei can do that and only they are the ones who can do that also. They have a great phone lineup, unique android UI, unique Apps and features, a good financial foundation and a great customer care support. They are the best of China, and who can underestimate China in this day and age? Even the Chinese government will back them if and when needed to crumble the Samsung empire in USA.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 5:18 AM 4

4. Peacetoall unregistered

your comment was actually likeable until your hatred towards samsung kicked in

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 6:21 AM 8

18. sissy246

Posts: 7129; Member since: Mar 04, 2015

Agree For once I thought what a well said post by him tell the end of the post. Then I went back to how dumb he is if he thinks Samsung will fail.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 10:21 AM 3

20. makatijules

Posts: 835; Member since: Dec 11, 2017

Why not crumple Apple Empire in the US, why only Samsung? Since Samsung offers phone at similar prices as Huawei, they would feel a pinch much later than Apple would. Because Apple doesn't make low price options. Apple numbers went down in China even before gettign with China Mobile. Samsung use to have a 25% market in China and are now also in single digits. But Apple fail first because Apple cant compete on price. That same thing woudl happen here. But you chose to attach Samsung. When basically they both would be affected.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 10:43 AM 1

3. worldpeace

Posts: 3135; Member since: Apr 15, 2016

They got solid hardware and software, at competitive price too.. But they'll need to learn to make hype, and make a nice commercial if they want to success there

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 6:08 AM 5

5. Bfrenz

Posts: 285; Member since: Aug 26, 2012

I might add another point. They'll need a new name. Hauwei is not easy to understand or pronunce like Apple, Samsung.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 6:25 AM 1

6. Clars123

Posts: 1079; Member since: Mar 16, 2015

How hard is it to say Huawei?

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 6:35 AM 0

8. TheOracle1

Posts: 2340; Member since: May 04, 2015

Didn't seem to affect Hyundai in the US. It will take time but if they're willing to stick it out (they definitely have the finances and hardware) they'll succeed.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 7:05 AM 4

10. Sparkxster

Posts: 1260; Member since: Mar 31, 2017

I'm sure people will adapt to pronouncing Huawei ("wa wei") not hard to pronounce at all.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 7:24 AM 1

21. makatijules

Posts: 835; Member since: Dec 11, 2017

So you can't say WAH WAY? Because that is how its pronounced.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 10:45 AM 0

7. Panzer

Posts: 283; Member since: May 13, 2016

Am I the only that does not quite trust Chinese OEM's. And yes I realize LG, Samsung etc data harvest along with Google. Atleast with Samsung the device has been vetted for secure communications. With One Plus getting caught sending off data to a probably unsecured server in China it doesn't inspire confidence. I know the only way to have true privacy is to leave the internet but that is not exactly practical now days.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 7:02 AM 1

9. TheOracle1

Posts: 2340; Member since: May 04, 2015

The beauty of Android is that you can root and control everything or change your rom if you wish. Nuff said.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 7:11 AM 2

12. cnour

Posts: 2305; Member since: Sep 11, 2014

The beauty of iOS is that you cannot and you don’t need to root since everything is perfect.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 7:53 AM 0

16. Sammy_DEVIL737

Posts: 1529; Member since: Nov 28, 2016

Jailbreak?? LOL

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 8:16 AM 1

22. makatijules

Posts: 835; Member since: Dec 11, 2017

If iOS was perfect, then why is there jailbreaks?

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 10:46 AM 0

14. Panzer

Posts: 283; Member since: May 13, 2016

I rooted and rom'd for years just got sick of it. More and more apps freak out about root even though Magisk does a great job of hiding it. I really miss Xposed and X Privacy that was the ultimate privacy tool. Between getting back into Linux and tinkering with SmartThings and home automation my time is spread thin already.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 8:00 AM 1

23. TheOracle1

Posts: 2340; Member since: May 04, 2015

You asked about privacy and I gave you an answer. Personally I've been using Chinese phones exclusively for the past 4 years and have only had privacy concerns with the smaller OEM's. I've had zero concerns with Lenovo, Xiaomi, Huawei and Nubia. I'm sure Oppo and Vivo would be the same.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 10:47 AM 0

15. Bondurant

Posts: 787; Member since: Jun 04, 2014

Its not like Apple and Google aren't hacked by every govt in the world.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 8:14 AM 0

11. redmd

Posts: 1963; Member since: Oct 26, 2011

I hope Apple won't sue Huawei for that Apple inspired UI.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 7:30 AM 1

13. tiara6918

Posts: 2263; Member since: Apr 26, 2012

Advertising won't be enough do. I see a lot of huawei ads in japan everywhere but haven't spotted a single one using a huawei device They need to be creative and think of other wayd

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 7:55 AM 0

17. torr310

Posts: 1725; Member since: Oct 27, 2011

They need to have good customer services too.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 8:19 AM 0

19. makatijules

Posts: 835; Member since: Dec 11, 2017

Other OEM's had issues in the US because they made crappy products. Huawei makes nice phones and I would love for them to come here. The Huawei phone would be of Apple iPhone quality at half the cost. Many IOS users don't know their Apple music files work on Android phone. But those apps exclusive to IOS, would make switching an issue for many. Other people will always just want an IOS and Samsung device no matter what. But is Hwawei appears on carriers like ATT, TMo, Sprint, MetroPCS or Cricket, then they could catch up to Apple rather quickly and Samsung too. There are 500M people in North America. About 50% have a phone. There is a 25% untapped market here that Huawei could just in and take.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 10:40 AM 0

24. Rangerboy505

Posts: 22; Member since: Sep 09, 2016

Make a compact and they will come.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 4:12 PM 0

25. baldilocks

Posts: 1547; Member since: Dec 14, 2008

It's all in the brand name and historical nostalgia. Huawei will never be an Apple or even a Samsung in the eyes of most people in the Western world, as sad as that may sound.

posted on Dec 21, 2017, 6:26 PM 0

26. p51d007

Posts: 705; Member since: Nov 24, 2013

I have used 3 Huawei phones. Mate 2,8 and currently using the 9. Never had a problem with any of them. First phones I've used, that I never rooted, custom flashed or jacked around with. Other than Nova launcher prime, 100% stock. If Huawei REALLY wants to compete in the USA, they will have to spend money on ADVERTISING to let people know their phones are available, a good value, quality etc because we know the carrier & retail stores are so in bed with Apple/Samsung, they won't even bother to show any other phones.