Huawei P30 Pro scores big locally, but the Mate 30 is going to struggle: here’s why

Huawei’s managed to maintain its lead on Samsung as the world’s second biggest phone maker, despite a recent US sales ban.

Research firm Strategy Analytics revealed the news in its latest Q2 2019: Huawei Surge in China, Fall in Overseas report on Monday.

The research suggest Huawei managed to maintain a 17% share of the global smartphone market in Q2 2019 despite the US executive order against it. The US executive order was issued by the White House in May. The order forced numerous tech companies including Google, Intel, Microsoft, ARM and Intel to diminish ties with Huawei.

The Google block was particularly bad as it forced the company to revoke Huawei’s Android license, leaving it unclear if future Huawei phones will be able to run the OS and access key services like the Play Store. Reports broke Huawei is planning on releasing a phone with its “backup” Hongmeng OS later this year earlier today.

Related: Best phablet 2019

Strategy Analytics reported the Huawei was able to maintain its position as the second biggest phone maker thanks to strong sales in China. The report highlighted the Huawei P30 Pro, Honor 20-series and Nova 5-series phones as key performers in Huawei’s local market.

Strategy Analytics reported the company may struggle in the near future however, warning investors: “Huawei’s outlook in overseas market remains gloomy and cloudy, given the ongoing US-China tension and the rising regulatory uncertainty in major western countries.”

This could spell bad news for the company’s hotly anticipated Huawei Mate 30. The Mate 30 is Huawei’s rumoured next flagship phablet. The phone was originally expected to go toe-to-toe with the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 for the best Android phablet crown later this year. But since the sales ban information about the Mate 30 has died down, leaving it uncertain when or if it will get a Western release.

The Galaxy Note 10 is scheduled to arrive on Wednesday this week. Speculation about the phablet suggests there will be Plus and 5G variants of the Note 10 as well as the base phablet. All three are expected to have reworked designs with hole-punch front cameras in their top right hand side. Separate speculation suggests they will have improved S Pen styluses and tweaked versions of the triple-camera setup debuted on Samsung’s Galaxy S10.