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Shenzhen-based electronics manufacturer Huawei has officially overtaken Apple as the world’s second largest smartphone seller after the Chinese firm gained ground in both domestic and European markets.

Whilst total worldwide smartphone sales dropped two percent for the quarter year‐on‐year, and leading global smartphone company Samsung saw its sales fall 10 percent to 71.9 million units, Huawei saw its own sales rise 41 percent to 54.2 million units during the three-month period ended June, 2018.

For Huawei, this rise now equates to a total 15 percent ownership of the global smartphone market.

Meanwhile, Apple maintained steady sales, up one percent for the quarter to 41.3 million, representing a lesser 12 percent market share.

“The combination of market saturation, increased smartphone penetration rates, and climbing ASPs continue to dampen the growth of the overall market,” said Anthony Scarsella, Research Manager with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

“To contest this slowdown, vendors will need to focus on new innovative features and form factors combined with incentives and promotions to drive growth in many of these highly competitive markets moving forward.”

This is something that

Huawei has actively pursued, as demonstrated with the Company's success with the high levels of demand it received for its P20/ P20 Pro series.

These phones are within the high-end bracket at a price of between $600-$800 per model, allowing Huawei to significantly establish itself as a producer of luxury smartphones.

Further, Huawei’s release of its innovative GPU and CPU Turbo features, technologies that allow for better mobile processing performance, also served to enhance the Company's worldwide reputation.

“The continued growth of Huawei is impressive, to say the least, as is its ability to move into markets where, until recently, the brand was largely unknown,” said Ryan Reith, Program Vice President with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers.

The numbers have been confirmed by a range of market analysts including the IDC and IHS Markit, with Huawei's success coming despite the firm being denied permission to launch directly within the North American market on US national security grounds.

Additionally, the Company has revealed that it has already seen revenues rise 15 percent in the first six months of 2018, with this progress expected to continue into 2018.