The strong US resistance to the rise of Chinese companies appears to be having the opposite effect: instead of trying to strengthen themselves in the US market, they have sought to expand in Europe. The latest example is Xiaomi's announcement that it plans to triple the number of its own stores on the European continent by the end of this year. Today there are less than 50, but the company intends to reach more than 150 points of sale by the end of 2019, according to CNBC.
The shift in focus is a trend: Chinese brands like Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus are increasingly conquering the European market. In a recent report on sales of smartphones in Europe in 2018, Canalys, an organization analyzing technology markets, showed that 32% of the handsets on the continent are made by Chinese manufacturers. Huawei owns the majority of them, with 23% of participation, referring to the last quarter of last year.
With 42.5 million units sold in 2018, the brand reached third place in the European smartphone trade. Xiaomi and HMD Global (which controls Nokia) have also grown to a fourth and fifth place, respectively. On the other hand, Samsung dropped 10% on its shipments to the mainland compared to 2017, while Apple dropped 6%.
One of the reasons Chinese companies are investing in Europe is accusations of espionage by US intelligence agencies. The heads of these institutions even warned consumers not to buy handsets from Huawei. In addition, the company's chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, is accused of violating Iran's US-imposed economic sanctions.
Another reason is the dependence of telecommunications operators for the distribution of mobile networks in the USA. And this can be a problem for international companies. The prevailing question, however, is: how long will American consumers be satisfied with the absence of Chinese technology products in the US?
Let's have your views in the comments section below.
Joseph Etim
Joseph Etim (B. Tech) is a blogger, mobile web developer and a tutor with a zeal for positive effects.
Website: Pepetimsblog
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Disclaimer: The opinions conveyed in the comments section on this blog are those of the comment writers alone and it does not attest or portray the views of Joseph Etim.