According to a report from Jiemian News on October 20, research institute Counterpoint recently revealed in an interview with foreign media that Huawei sold 1.6 million Mate60 Pro units in six weeks, with over 400,000 of those sales occurring in the past two weeks.
An individual familiar with Huawei’s mobile distribution channel stated that while he’s unaware of the online sales data, offline research indicates that this number is accurate. He commented, “Given the current stagnant mobile market, selling 1.6 million units of a phone in six weeks is industry-leading. Moreover, the Mate60 Pro is currently out of stock. If supply met demand, the sales would likely be higher.”
Huawei has not yet commented on these figures.
Overcharging by 1000 Yuan in Some Mobile Stores
“How many units has Huawei produced now? It’s still not enough. Even if you add a thousand yuan, it’s out of stock.”
In a China Mobile store in the Changping District of Beijing, Li Guoqiang listened to the salesperson while handling the demo model. After hesitating, he paid an additional 500 yuan “deposit.” In total, to reserve a Huawei Mate60, he has paid a 1000 yuan “deposit” in this store. Once the phone is available, Li Guoqiang will need to pay the original price of 6999 yuan.
According to the store’s salesperson, even with the 1000 yuan markup, the price is still about 1000 yuan cheaper than online platforms.
Since the launch of the Huawei Mate60 series, demand has consistently outstripped supply. Consumers who’ve repeatedly failed to purchase the phone online or have waited a month with no updates from offline stores are exploring other purchase avenues.
Unlike them, Li Guoqiang uses smartphones but isn’t familiar with online flash sales or scalper services. After waiting for over a month without receiving a “purchase number plate” from an official Huawei store, he decided to try his luck at a nearby carrier store he’s familiar with.
Regarding the markup, the aforementioned salesperson stated, “Honestly, we’re reluctant to sell at a markup. We’re not supposed to charge extra, but online platforms are doing it. If I sell at the original price, you (the customer) could just resell it at a higher price. How can we justify that?”
So, can one immediately collect the phone after paying a 1000 yuan “deposit”?
The salesperson explained that mobile stores or outlets in Beijing generally operate on a “sell as soon as stock arrives” basis. Although they can’t guarantee a delivery timeframe, they will promptly notify customers who’ve made a deposit once stock arrives.
It’s worth noting, according to the Securities Times, that the 1.2 million units ordered by China Mobile are a custom version. Industry insiders revealed that these custom models usually come with non-removable carrier apps but are otherwise similar to standard versions.
On October 17, a reporter from the Daily Economic News contacted China Mobile via WeChat regarding this matter but hasn’t received a response as of the time of writing.
The same salesperson revealed that if a new model has a custom version, the carrier would inform stores in advance. At the moment, they haven’t received such notification, and it’s been a long time since they last saw a custom model product. However, they can’t guarantee whether the new stock will be a custom version or not.
Following the method provided by the salesperson, the reporter from Daily Economic News found out that Li Guoqiang’s current phone, Vivo X21A, is also a custom version. According to Li, he bought the phone from another store, and at that time, the salesperson didn’t inform him that it was a custom version.
Analyst: Huawei’s Mobile Shipments in 2024 Expected to Reach At Least 60 Million Units
Previous reports claimed that Huawei aims to ship 60 to 70 million smartphones in 2024. Sources say that Huawei has already placed enough orders with its supply chain to ensure it meets this target next year.
Coincidentally, Guo Mingchi, an analyst at Tianfeng International, recently stated on social media that Huawei’s Mate60 Pro shipment plan for the latter half of the year has been increased by about 20% to between 5.5 and 6 million units. One year after its release, the cumulative shipments of this model are expected to reach at least 12 million units. Excluding potential non-commercial risks and benefiting from the Mate 60 Pro’s demand and market influence, Huawei’s mobile shipments in 2023 will increase by about 65% to 38 million units. Looking ahead to 2024, shipments are expected to reach at least 60 million units.
“That’s about right. Huawei’s internal target is probably this.” “This is a fairly standard order number, not too high, and the market expects something like this.” Meanwhile, a supply chain source also told the Daily Economic News reporter, “I heard that’s very likely.”
According to a mid-September report by market research firm IDC, despite years of external limitations, Huawei still ranks second in China’s high-end mobile market. With Huawei’s return, it’s expected to first challenge Apple in the high-end market. As new chip solutions are gradually used in mid-to-low-end product lines, it will have a more significant impact on other domestic Android manufacturers.
In a recent research report released by CICC Electronics, it stated: “Based on supply chain tracking, the inventory expectations of core components for the Mate 60 series in 2023 have been revised up to over 8 million. We estimate that the end shipment expectations of the Huawei Mate 60 series in 2023 will reach 6 million, and the overall Huawei mobile sales are expected to reach 40 million (including Nova and other series). Based on market demand trends and supply chain capacity, we estimate that Mate/P series shipments in 2024 will be close to 20 million, and overall Huawei mobile sales in 2024 are expected to reach 50-60 million.”