China's Huawei overtakes Samsung as top smartphone seller

China's Huawei has overtaken Samsung to become the number-one smartphone seller worldwide in the second quarter, industry tracker Canalys said Thursday.

Huawei shipped 55.8 million devices in the April-June period, trumping Samsung's 53.7 million, according to data from research firm Canalys.

The Chinese company has felt the heat of US sanctions that have disrupted its business overseas, but the latest numbers show its rising dominance in its home market.

The findings marked the first quarter in nine years that a company other than Samsung or Apple has led the market, Canalys said.

More than 70 per cent of Huawei smartphones are now sold in the country, where Samsung has a very small share of the market.

Samsung said on Thursday it expects smartphone demand to pick up in the second half of the year.

Huawei -- the world's top producer of telecoms networking equipment -- has become a pivotal issue in the geopolitical standoff between Beijing and Washington, which claims the firm poses a significant cybersecurity threat. 

Washington has essentially barred Huawei from the US market and waged a global campaign to isolate the company.

The British government bowed to growing US pressure and pledged earlier this month to remove Huawei from its 5G network by 2027.

Australia and Japan have also taken steps to block or restrict the Chinese company's participation in their 5G rollouts, and European telecoms operators including Norway's Telenor and Sweden's Telia have passed over Huawei as a supplier.

The US has also requested the extradition of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on fraud charges, further damaging relations between China and Canada, where she is under house arrest.

Meng, the Chinese telecom giant's chief financial officer, was arrested on a US warrant in December 2018 during a stopover in Vancouver and has been fighting extradition ever since.

(with inputs from agencies)