Huawei overtakes Samsung as top smartphone seller

US sanctions had “stifled” Huawei’s business outside mainland China, the research group added, but it had grown to dominate its substantial home market.

More than 70 per cent of Hua- wei smartphones are now sold in the country, Canalys said, where Samsung has a very small share of the market.

Huawei said in a statement it was a sign of “exceptional re- silience”.

Overseas shipments, however, fell nearly a third in the second quarter and Canalys analyst Mo Jia warned that strength in Chi-

na alone “will not be enough to sustain Huawei at the top once the global economy starts to recover”.

“Its major channel partners in key regions, such as Europe, are increasingly wary of ranging Huawei devices, taking on fewer models, and bringing in new brands to reduce risk,” Mo said.

Huawei -- the world’s top producer of telecoms network- ing equipment -- has become a pivotal issue in the geopolitical standoff between Beijing and Washington, which claims the firm poses a significant cyber- security threat.