Huawei’s gradual withdrawal from the smartphone market hit Sony hard

Despite active shipments of Sony image sensors to smartphone manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, Huawei’s gradual withdrawal from the smartphone market has hit Sony very hard, according to the latest data.

Taking into account weak demand for flagship phones and increased competition from Samsung in the image sensor market, Terushi Shimizu, president of Sony’s semiconductor division, said on June 3 that the company would not be able to ramp up profits for fiscal 2021. The company estimates that operating income will decline for the second consecutive year and is expected to fall to about $ 8.1 billion.

After the imposition of American sanctions and the termination of the supply of American components to Huawei, the company has sharply lost its position in the global smartphone market. Although Sony is a Japanese company, Huawei doesn’t make sense to keep ordering image sensors from it, as it cannot manufacture new flagship smartphones.

According to data provided by IDC, in the first quarter of this year, Huawei’s global share of the global smartphone market fell 14% year on year to just 4%.

Sony currently controls about 50% of the smartphone image sensor market and hopes to boost sales with smart cars.