Huawei to ship 100 million smartphones amid overseas expansion

[SHENZHEN] Huawei Technologies Co will boost smartphone shipments by a third this year and surpass 100 million units as the company makes a greater push to target high-end consumers and international markets.

Smartphone shipments will increase from 75 million last year, the Shenzhen, China-based company said in a statement released ahead of a conference call today. The portion of sales from high-end devices - including the Mate 7, P7, or Honor 6, will rise to more than 30 per cent from 18 per cent, the company said.

Huawei is expanding its lineup of mobile devices to better compete against fellow Chinese vendors Xiaomi Corp and Lenovo Group Ltd as they try to move into the ranks of the world's top suppliers alongside Samsung Electronics Co and Apple Inc.

Huawei ranked fifth in global smartphone shipments during the third quarter, with 5.1 per cent share, according to researcher Strategy Analytics. It trailed Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi and LG Electronics Inc, Strategy Analytics reported in October.

The portion of Huawei's smartphone sales coming from international markets will rise to more than 60 per cent in 2015 from 52 per cent last year, the company said in today's statement.

BLOOMBERG