Huawei expected to surpass Apple to become world’s No 2 phone maker • Hacker News Board

Re: Huawei expected to surpass Apple to become world’s No 2 phone maker

#41

Post by yorwba » Fri, Dec 20, 2019, 4:48 PM UTC

LatteLazy wrote: post #30

ses1984 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the sanctions on Huawei were about stopping the penetration of Chinese devices into American networks and businesses for security reasons.

No one has actually managed to find and actual security reasons not to accept Huawei devices. There were some really poorly informed stories that listed standard features (telnet support in routers) and tried to play them up as a sinister commie plot but they were all pretty laughable. Most countries (for instance here in the UK) assess infrastructure equipment, providers can only buy from the approved and have for d…

> Huawei always passed those tests with flying colours.

Those tests have usually identified several issues, and Huawei has been slow to address them. For example, one of the conclusions of the 2019 report [1] was that "No material progress has been made on the issues raised in the previous 2018 report" Some of these issues are known vulnerabilities in old versions of dependencies like OpenSSL that Huawei has forked and then neglected to update.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/huawei-cyber-secu...

Re: Huawei expected to surpass Apple to become world’s No 2 phone maker

#42

Post by ASalazarMX » Fri, Dec 20, 2019, 4:50 PM UTC

andreilys wrote: post #23

itg wrote: post #7

Not surprising when phones coming from Chinese brands have on par/better specs for a quarter of the price.

Yes not surprising when Huawei and others have been accused of stealing trade secrets. Why invest in R&D when you can just steal the IP from others? https://www.wsj.com/articles/huaweis-yearslong-rise-is-litte...

Would you expect any developing country to not take advantage advantage in the same situation? At a state level, it would be stupid to attract manufacturing with cheap labor, materials, lax ambient laws and low taxes and not copy the technology.

Only an inept government would willingly stall the development of its own country to honorably respect those trade secrets. Everybody doing business with China knew, but the economical incentive was too great to pass.

Re: Huawei expected to surpass Apple to become world’s No 2 phone maker

#43

Post by spamizbad » Fri, Dec 20, 2019, 4:59 PM UTC

ses1984 wrote: post #12

bhouston wrote: post #2

So the US sanctions on Huawei, that were intended to be crippling and were fairly abrupt and harsh, had only a minor effect on Huawei. That should scare the shit out of the US government. It means that China is much more self-sufficient in technology than they figured. The future of high technology at this time does seem to be in the hands of China with the rest of the world contributing a bit. I suspect OSes and arc…

I thought the sanctions on Huawei were about stopping the penetration of Chinese devices into American networks and businesses for security reasons.

That might have been one of the stated reasons. But I think it was protect the profit margins of several well-connected US Manufacturers notorious for expensive, high margin equipment.

Re: Huawei expected to surpass Apple to become world’s No 2 phone maker

#44

Post by eloff » Fri, Dec 20, 2019, 4:59 PM UTC

dep_b wrote: post #26

Nokinside wrote: post #10

According to Counterpoint Research Samsung is #1, Second is BBK Electronics with 20% of the global smartphone market and is close to becoming the largest manufacturer in the near future. Brand comparisons ignore BBK Electronics because they sell multiple brands: One Plus, Oppo, Vivo and Realme. Huawei is ahead of Apple because Huawei sells also HONOR branded smartphones. 2019Q3 Samsung 21% (*BBK 20%) Huawei 18% Apple…

Good info. Still I think that they're not making a lot of money and the market's contracting too. Looks a bit like the situation with laptops about 10 years ago. They were dirt cheap and abundant. --- edit --- https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/12/19/apple-earned-66-o... 66% to Apple, 17% to Samsung and the rest is fighting for the scraps. Which is actually better than a while ago where Apple + Samsung > 100% becau…

When people ask me if they should buy Apple, I tell them it's overpriced for the hardware you get. Your linked article proves my point quite nicely. But then I follow that up with the value is in the software, if you like/are familiar with Apple software, then buy Apple despite the cost.

I prefer Android and Linux, so I avoid Apple products for myself.

Re: Huawei expected to surpass Apple to become world’s No 2 phone maker

#45

Post by bonestamp2 » Fri, Dec 20, 2019, 5:06 PM UTC

saiya-jin wrote: post #27

davidy123 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a very clever but insulting comparison. iPhone and Android (and etc) are both clearly smartphones with the same general features. I have to use an iPhone for work. I try to get the most out of it, but am constantly surprised how primitive and clunky it is compared to the Android experience.

Never had an Apple product so no personal experience - colleague recently bought an Apple flagship phone (I think previous gen before current gen came). After few days he was hugely disappointed how little he can tweak the device. What is there works fine, but that can be also said about phones for 20% of the price. For him, there was nothing more that would justify the price. When he sees how much horsepower I have…

It sounds like he didn't do enough research. Customizability is one of the largest downfalls of iOS compared to Android, and that fact should show up on nearly every comparison article written about the two.

iOS is definitely not for those who want to highly customize their mobile device. It's kind of like renting a home vs owning one -- you can do light decoration but you can't knock down any walls. There are pros and cons to that. You can't customize as much, but you also skirt some of the responsibilities that come with property ownership. Some people prefer one set of responsibilities and freedoms over the other. Neither one is right for everyone.

Re: Huawei expected to surpass Apple to become world’s No 2 phone maker

#46

Post by jandrese » Fri, Dec 20, 2019, 5:09 PM UTC

eloff wrote: post #44

dep_b wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good info. Still I think that they're not making a lot of money and the market's contracting too. Looks a bit like the situation with laptops about 10 years ago. They were dirt cheap and abundant. --- edit --- https://appleinsider.com/articles/19/12/19/apple-earned-66-o... 66% to Apple, 17% to Samsung and the rest is fighting for the scraps. Which is actually better than a while ago where Apple + Samsung > 100% becau…

When people ask me if they should buy Apple, I tell them it's overpriced for the hardware you get. Your linked article proves my point quite nicely. But then I follow that up with the value is in the software, if you like/are familiar with Apple software, then buy Apple despite the cost. I prefer Android and Linux, so I avoid Apple products for myself.

Some of it is the price premium, but Apple also enjoys some efficiencies that the Android clone makers don't. The more efficient iOS and smaller variation in hardware over their more limited number of models means they can lower costs while still putting out a top shelf product.

Tight control of the supply chain from top to bottom pays dividends over the years.

Re: Huawei expected to surpass Apple to become world’s No 2 phone maker

#47

Post by jandrese » Fri, Dec 20, 2019, 5:12 PM UTC

ChrisSD wrote: post #14

euix wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huawei is just like Apple in my mind. An overly expensive premium phone with bells and whistles I don't need. I had a ZTE for many years that is finally bricking. After this I will probably get some $100 phone from one of those millions of unknown Shenzhen OEMs, UMIDIGI or something.

Huawei have long done good phones in the roughly £100 to £200 range. They tend to be arguably the best hardware for their price. But as mentioned, the software isn't perfect so you'll either need to put up with some annoyances or be willing to hack around it.

How is the Cyanogen/LineageOS coverage on Huawei?

It seems like if you want updates after a couple of years you'd best make sure your phone isn't locked out from aftermarket ROMs.

Re: Huawei expected to surpass Apple to become world’s No 2 phone maker

#48

Post by codedokode » Fri, Dec 20, 2019, 5:13 PM UTC

The good things in Chinese smartphones are their price and that they sometimes have clean Android version without bloatware. Why do vendors like Samsung make their ugly buggy shells and pre-install software I don't need? Do they think they have better designers and developers that Google has? They are horribly wrong. Stop pretending that you are making something unique and maybe I will consider buying a non-chinese phone next time.

Re: Huawei expected to surpass Apple to become world’s No 2 phone maker

#49

Post by baybal2 » Fri, Dec 20, 2019, 5:14 PM UTC

dr_dshiv wrote: post #3

I use a Huawei - it takes surprisingly great photos and is generally well made. Some annoying software pop-ups, though. I guess the worst part is that I feel the need to loudly state that "I support the actions of the Chinese government" on a regular basis, just to be safe.

I have Maimang 5. I replaced the battery 2 times already, and did one screen replacement along with the usb connector. I think, I am about to replace the loudspeaker soon too.

The thing just keeps breaking.

Huawei does very well in a niche of quite pricey mid-range phones without anything special.

The quality is as you see, quite average. The screen and loudspeaker died from improper sealing, batteries died to safety triggering both times.

At least they come with sound mechanical engineering. Why I bought it? It's still the best option if you want to buy a moderately well built phone, but don't want to go for a "superphone."

Re: Huawei expected to surpass Apple to become world’s No 2 phone maker

#50

Post by eloff » Fri, Dec 20, 2019, 5:14 PM UTC

jandrese wrote: post #46

eloff wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When people ask me if they should buy Apple, I tell them it's overpriced for the hardware you get. Your linked article proves my point quite nicely. But then I follow that up with the value is in the software, if you like/are familiar with Apple software, then buy Apple despite the cost. I prefer Android and Linux, so I avoid Apple products for myself.

Some of it is the price premium, but Apple also enjoys some efficiencies that the Android clone makers don't. The more efficient iOS and smaller variation in hardware over their more limited number of models means they can lower costs while still putting out a top shelf product. Tight control of the supply chain from top to bottom pays dividends over the years.

Yes, that's a good point. Their scale, vertical integration, and low number of distinct models do likely give them a margin advantage.