back to article No Google Play, no problem: Huawei pinches global phone sales crown off Samsung

It almost seemed like a mission impossible but Huawei has defied all expectations – including its own – by outshipping rival handset maker Samsung to become the world's biggest shifter of smartphones. In calendar Q2, Canalys numbers indicate Huawei dispatched 55.8 million devices worldwide, down 5 per cent year-on-year. …

  1. karlkarl Silver badge

    Can app developers not just release apk files on their websites?

    Why has this not hit off? It is very common for consumer Windows and that is as popular as ever.

    The central repo (store) system (i.e Linux, *BSD package managers) only works if run by an ethical entity. Not Google, Samsung or countless others.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @karlkarl - Yes but

      I must bring to your attention that unlike Google/Apple/Microsoft app store, in Linux I can attach to multiple independent repositories.

      1. Charles 9

        Re: @karlkarl - Yes but

        Trouble is, what if one of them is actually spewing malware? What's one of the most ubiquitous problems with Windows downloads? Malware disguised as legit stuff. There's an issue of trust involved here, and the line's blurring because of the elaborate lengths some malware slingers will go to create near-perfect impersonators.

        1. karlkarl Silver badge

          Re: @karlkarl - Yes but

          @Charles 9

          I know that is the fear they are trying to instil in us but I am pretty certain all app stores contain more malware than the vendor websites.

          Actually, come to think of it, I have never seen a live case of malware on a legit vendor website. This is probably because they care more about their products and their income rather than just seeing a massive collection of assets to mass distribute.

        2. RyokuMas
          Meh

          Re: @karlkarl - Yes but

          "Malware disguised as legit stuff."

          As if that doesn't happen with the Google Play Store...

          Admittedly, it's been over five years since I threw in the towel and gave mobile gamedev the finger. But back then, a mere $25 was enough to get you lifetime ability to upload to the Play store. And yes, the store's security has improved in that time - but then so have the techniques used by malware developers.

          I don't use Android, simply because it is now waaaaay too tightly coupled to Google, no matter how much some might say "but it's open source". But if I did, I'd probably feel more comfortable about sideloading an APK that I have downloaded from a link on the developer's own site than going via the Play store (although in the particular case linked, the developer has given up and gone in with the store - shame).

          Better return for the developer, too...

          1. NetBlackOps

            Re: @karlkarl - Yes but

            Yes, I've gone to side-loading for both Google Android and Amazon tablets. I prefer giving to the developer rather than Megacorps that can't do their half of the contractual obligation; policing their stores.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: @karlkarl - Yes but

        Google (Android) has allowed third-party app stores for a few years now - there's loads of them.

      3. Blackjack Silver badge

        Re: @karlkarl - Yes but

        While Android gives you a lot of warnings for doing so and you have to disable play protect, in Android you can use other stores besides the one Google has. For example I use F-Droid for a lot of stuff.

        Why disable play protect? To avoid Google deciding to randomly uninstall programs that didn't come from their Android store.

        By the way this is relevant:

        https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/07/google-wants-samsung-to-kill-bixby-galaxy-app-store/

    2. DS999 Silver badge

      That's a security worry

      Because then instead of trusting Google Play, or some major third party Android app store, you are trusting individual developer's web sites haven't been hacked and had what you are trying to download replaced with something that's had malware implanted into it.

      That's probably not as big of an issue for Windows applications as it could be because there are so many other ways to p0wn Windows there's little to gain by hacking some developer's web site and replacing the downloads with ones that have had malware added.

      Of course if you can hack a developer's web site and replace his app, you might also be able to leverage holes in the phone's browser to hijack it directly. As browsers get more complex the number of such holes found (especially connected to playing media) seems to only increase.

      1. Blackjack Silver badge

        Re: That's a security worry

        "That's probably not as big of an issue for Windows applications as it could be because there are so many other ways to p0wn Windows there's little to gain by hacking some developer's web site and replacing the downloads with ones that have had malware added."

        You missed a lot of tech news, didn't you?

        https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/09/ccleaner-malware-outbreak-is-much-worse-than-it-first-appeared/

        There are more recent hacks but this one was the most famous.

      2. NetBlackOps

        Re: That's a security worry

        And missed a ton of stories around malware apps in the Google Play Store.

        1. Roland6 Silver badge

          Re: That's a security worry

          And all the stories about the dozens of apps in the Play store that are known to contain malware/spyware etc. that are still used by millions of users (who wants to wade through a list a few hundred long to find out if you've installed any - assuming that is you happened upon an article containing the list), when Google could (but doesn't) auto block/uninstall...

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "or 30 per cent fewer phones"

    Looks closer to 3% from the numbers (55.8 and 53.7 million)? Or does it mean that Samsung's sales are down 30%?

    1. find users who cut cat tail

      Re: "or 30 per cent fewer phones"

      If you read the entire paragraph, it's clearly:

      Huawei down 5%

      Samsung down 30%

      It does not compare them. But I was originally a bit confused too…

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    USA will not be particularily happy about this.

    Damn! Those commies with their corrupt/totalitarian/oppressive regime were supposed to be bankrupt by now. There's something wrong.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    All very predictable

    Meanwhile USA, the Republicans reseed Corona Virus, keep it going as long as possible, print trillions in fake dollars and hand it to their friends, block mail-in ballots, block mandatory mask rules, block stay-at-home orders, then try to use the second wave of Corona Virus THAT THEY DELIBERATELY CAUSED as an excuse to block elections.

    Now Herman McCain, one of their own, just died as a result. He couldn't breathe. They killed him. They'll offer his family 'thoughts and prayers' but they still won't wear masks.

    I see Trump is calling for a delay in the elections, at the same time blocking mail-in ballot laws, and trying to force schools open.

    It's all such a predictable coup plot.

    140,000 dead from Covid 19, wave 1, at a peak of 35k cases per day. Now cases are double that each day, the death toll will be double, an extra 280,000 dead (=420k dead American men, woman and children, all so the Republicans could block elections and hold onto power).

    All those inevitable deaths Republicans planned for. All so they would have a raging infection during election time.

    I told you so, or rather, I warned you so.

    So the last bit of this coup. Republican Secretaries of States refuse to hold elections claiming "safety". A judicial crisis ensues, Republican partisan Supreme Court suppresses election, with wavering Justice Roberts being forced into a 'safety' position.

    Republicans keep seeding Corona Virus for wave 3 until Ruth Bader Ginsberg dies, kill maybe half a million more people, they put another ultra partisan in her place to nullify Roberts wavering nature, and you'll never see a free election ever again.

    Riots ensue, Trump suppresses them with a violent 'Portland style' militia.

    Someone should have a word with Murdoch & Son, because the main cover for their intentional seeding of the deadly virus is Fox News. It was Fox News that did the "the cure is worse than the disease" lie, and the "liberate" calls. It's Fox News that downplayed the Corona Virus, pretending it was 'a case of the sniffles'. Fox News run the propaganda that seeds the virus, they will also assist in the undermining of the election and ending of democracy.

    When Raffensperger / Moore Lee / Hughs, suppress elections, it will be Fox News giving propaganda cover for them. You pull the plug on that outlet, you remind Murdoch how much worse his life would be, beholden to Putin and his puppet, he says goodbye to his trolls, Fox News sides with the democracy. These 3 little people will crawl back into their holes and run their elections as they are required to do.

    Coup averted, death toll minimized.

    1. Poncey McPonceface
      Flame

      Re: All very predictable

      Unmitigated execrable horseshite.

      Unsurprised you posted this anonymously, seeing as how I'd be ashamed to my grave to have anything this repugnantly moronic linked to my actual identity.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: All very predictable

        TBF the OP didn't mention 5G or chemtrails!

    2. gotes

      Re: All very predictable

      Why so many upvotes? I'm no fan of Trump, but WTF does this have to do with mobile phone sales?

    3. PTW

      Re: All very predictable

      Not sure where to start with your ravings, I'll give it a go, Republican voters tend to be older;

      1. 90+% of Covid death are over 60 years old

      2. COVID 19 is just "a case of the sniffles" if your under 60, with no comorbidity

      3. Healthy children are unaffected

      4. Children who tested positive have been proven not to pass it to members of the same household ergo school is safe.

      Please go back to Twitter, or wherever.

  5. martinusher Silver badge

    I'm curious about Apple's sales in China

    The Feds made a mistake in taking on Huawei by making it all about China. Huawei's only crime is being outstandingly good at what they do. Normally this would be a cause for celebration but because we - the US - don't have any way of directly making money from it then we felt we had to take them down. We attack the company to punish the society and -- surprise! -- the country responds by supporting the local product. Its not as if its a bad product, either -- I had to get a new phone recently and the Honor 9X I purchased turns out to be twice the specification of an iPhone SE for about half the cost.

    So let's not look at the numbers sold by Huawei but those sold by Apple. China is a major market for Apple because as the quintisenntial American brand it was the brand with the status and bling, it advertised surplus income to all. Now its the symbol of everything that stands to destroy the society so I woudn't be surprised to discover that Apple's sales are down somewhat and are unlikely to recover.

    1. Poncey McPonceface
      Boffin

      Re: I'm curious about Apple's sales in China

      Nothing less than global dominance.

      “Canada among 67 nations to reaffirm International Criminal Court support after U.S. sanctions”

      This is what it is all about. If you do not submit to petro-dollar hegemony you will face sanctions. After that if you still insist on trying to have an independent economic policy you'll face the pointy end of the stick. Supremacy in the realm of high tech is seen in terms of national security. Hell, almost any affront to full spectrum dominance is seen as a threat to national security. Land. Sea. Air. Space. Tech. Why does the U.S. seem to loathe the E.U. (a fairly benign economic and geopolitical project, an toothless ally) – because Europe might *gasp* decide to behave independently on the world stage. How else do you explain the U.S. threatening to sanction Germany (Germany!) over Russian energy ties?

      And in this nobody's humble opinion the mistake the Feds are making is exactly this. Why does Europe have not a single high tech software or hardware company when China does? Because Europe did not protect and grow its markets. What will threatening China with hardware supply (Intel, Qualcomm, Broadcom) and software (Google, …) do? It will force them to stay on the path of self-sufficiency: “Semiconductor industrial park in central China seeks to secure supply amid foreign restrictions”. Japan rose to economic ascendancy in the 80's and the U.S. beat them back down. China has *ten* times the population of Japan, this time will be different. Consider that in 2019 that 119 of Fortune's Global 500 were Chinese and 121 were from the U.S. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortune_Global_500 – I'd be willing to bet dollars to donuts that this year China will be numerically on top.

      Will Apple sales be affected in China because of this move by the Feds? I think very much so, yes.

    2. DS999 Silver badge

      Re: I'm curious about Apple's sales in China

      Apple reported their results yesterday and had a gain in sales in China versus the same quarter last year, so Huawei's success hasn't come at their expense.

  6. Exrugbyman38

    Bigger Issue

    The problem with denying Huawei Google Play in the short term quite an issue for Huawei.

    However over the medium term it will result in Huawei developing their own competitor to Google Play, and then develop a better Google Play.

    Huawei will then start to provide Huawei Play to other mobile phone manufacturers, and possibly cheaper than Google Play.

    As Huawei Play becomes as standard as Google Play in 50% of phones Worldwide you will see Google Play go the same route as Kodak films and cameras.

    Beware the consequences as you can reap false rewardsfor your actions.

    1. Charles 9

      Re: Bigger Issue

      It could be tricky to undercut Google, though, as Google (and Alphabet) is larger and can better loss-lead. In wars of attrition, size generally matters since it becomes a matter of who gives up (or self-destructs) first.

  7. cd

    Go all the Huawei

    No Play store or services running, so for so good, now sell a rooted phone with replaceable battery, physical switches for GPS, cameras, mics, etc.

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