Huawei this week said it shipped 138 million handsets in 2014, up 7.8% on last year, and revealed plans to target the automotive and Internet of Things (IoT) sectors in particular this year.
The Chinese vendor said its focus on the mid-to-high-end product category paid off last year, as smartphone shipments surged 45% to 75 million.
"The global influence of our brand has continued to grow, and Huawei has become the first mainland Chinese company to successfully enter Interbrand’s top 100 global brands of 2014 list," noted Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei Consumer Business Group (BG), in a statement on Tuesday.
2014 saw the launch of the company’s flagship smartphone brand, Honor, which will operate alongside the Huawei brand. Huawei said it shipped 20 million Honor smartphones in 2014 across 60 countries.
"The dual-Huawei and Honor brand strategy has proven to be highly successful, creating synergies which have resulted in raising brand awareness and market share of the Huawei Consumer BG as a whole," said Shao Yang, vice p resident of marketing at Huawei Consumer BG.
For 2015, Huawei has set a target of consolidating its position in the mid-to-high-end smartphone segment by shipping 100 million units. It also aims to tap into new growth areas, such as the automotive and IoT markets, seeking opportunities in the areas of product, brand, marketing, retail, and e-commerce, among others, said Huawei.
"With Huawei’s strong technical capability, Huawei Consumer BG will continue to create extraordinary brand experiences to consumers all over the world," Yu declared.
