Samsung beats Huawei to regain top spot in Russia’s smartphone market

Samsung is now leading the smartphone market in Russia after dethroning Huawei in the third quarter of the year. Huawei held the top spot in the previous quarters but due to numerous factors including a supply shortage for the Chinese tech giant, the tables have turned and Samsung is now leading the charge.

Huawei had the bigger influence across online retail channels in Russia throughout Q3 2020. It boosted its online market share from 25.5% in Q3 2019 up to 27.8% a year later. Meanwhile, Samsung’s online retail influence had dropped and the company recorded an online market share of 26.3% in Q3 2020, down from 37.6% a year before.

Even so, Samsung is now leading the smartphone market in Russia

Samsung lost to Huawei as well as Xiaomi in terms of online shipment market share in Russia, however, the company managed to offset its online losses with strong sales through offline retail channels.

All things considered, Samsung had the highest combined revenue from online and offline retail channels. According to Counterpoint Research, two of its most popular smartphone models in Russia were the Galaxy A51 and the Galaxy A31, which isn’t all that surprising given that the Galaxy A51 has so far been one of the most successful Galaxy phones of the year in many other markets.

According to industry watchers, the smartphone market in Russia is recovering and flagship models are gaining more attention in part thanks to attractive trade-in offers. At the same time, Samsung’s rivals from China continue to aggressively attack the low and mid-range segments, so only time will tell how Q4 pans out. We’ll keep you posted.