(Yicai Global) Jan. 5 -- Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies will no longer be one of the world’s six biggest mobile phone makers this year, and is expected to drop to seventh place, as an escalating series of US trade sanctions take grip and due to the spinning off of its budget brand Honor, according to a new report.

Shenzhen-based Huawei, which ranked third last year, will be supplanted by compatriot Xiaomi, Taiwanese market intelligence firm TrendForce said. The top six players for 2021 will be, in order, South Korea’s Samsung, the US’ Apple, China’s Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and Transsion and together they will commandeer 80 percent of the global smartphone market, it said.

In May 2019, the US government placed Huawei on its so-called Entity List over national security concerns, barring US companies from buying its products and from selling it their hardware and software. Last September, the US further tightened the noose to include components manufactured worldwide using US software and technology, inflicting great damage on Huawei’s global supply chain.

Global production should grow 9 percent to 1.36 billion units, a reversal of last year’s 11 percent crash, as global economies recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, the report said. However, there are still many variables at hand, including geopolitical instabilities and a shortage of chips.

Fifth-generation smartphone penetration is likely to rise to 37 percent this year from 19 percent last year with Chinese manufacturers accounting for the lion’s share.

Editor: Kim Taylor