Huawei sales up 83%, boosting China's October smartphone sales

By Yelin Mo and Brenda Goh

BEIJING (Reuters) - Strong sales growth at Huawei helped power an 11% rise in China's total smartphone shipments in October, data from research firm Counterpoint showed on Tuesday, indicating signs of recovery in its lagging mobile market.

Huawei was a major contributor to the average year-on-year growth in the first four weeks of October, with its sales surging 83%, a note from the firm showed.

According to the Counterpoint data, Xiaomi also saw a 33% increase in smartphone sales in October. It did not provide specifics around Apple's performance in the period. In August, Huawei launched its Mate 60 smartphone series powered by what analysts said are a self-developed advanced chip, seen by some analysts as an answer to U.S. sanctions aimed at halting shipments of some chips to China.

"The clear standout in October has been Huawei, with its turnaround on the back of its Mate 60 series devices. Growth has been stellar," said Counterpoint China analyst Archie Zhang.

"Demand continues to be high double-digits and we’re also seeing a halo effect, with other models from the vendor performing well."

However, Counterpoint said there could be lingering bottlenecks for Huawei as it may still experience certain production issues.

"Huawei’s ability to scale up to this new normal will be a major determinant not just for their own growth, but for the broader market,” said Ivan Lam, senior Counterpoint analyst.

China's smartphone market has seen sales fall over several quarters, with a 3% drop in the quarter ending June, according to Counterpoint.

Analysts expect the market may be poised for a rebound, with research firm IDC predicting unspecified year-on-year sales growth in the fourth quarter after ten consecutive quarters of falling shipments.

(Reporting by Yelin Mo and Brenda Goh; Editing by Jan Harvey)