New research from Roy Morgan shows that mobile phone handsets from Chinese owned Huawei and Oppo are the fastest growing in the Australian market, despite the Government's security concerns that have garnered recent media attention.
Over the last two years, the number of Australians aged 14+ owning Huawei handsets has grown an impressive 87% to 471,000 in the 12 months to September 2018.
Rival handset maker Oppo, which only entered the Australian market in late 2014, has grown from a standing start to become Australia's seventh most widely held handset with 368,000 Australians owning Oppo handsets.
However, although the two Chinese handset makers are growing faster than any of the other leading handset makers, they remain well behind the two market leaders the Apple iPhone and Samsung.
Australia's most widely held mobile phone handset is again the Apple iPhone used by over 8.6 million Australians and up an impressive 16% on two years ago.
The handsets of key rival Samsung are used by over 5.6 million Australians in 2018, virtually unchanged on two years ago.
These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan's Single Source (Australia) which is based on a survey of over 50,000 consumers per annum including over 15,000 interviewed about their telecommunications preferences including mobile phone handset ownership.
Analysing handset ownership of Huawei and Oppo by generation shows that over half of Australians owning Huawei handsets (54%) and nearly two-thirds of Australians owning Oppo handsets (64%) are either Millennials or Generation Z.
This is far higher than for ownership of all mobile phone handsets. Under half of Australians with mobile phone handsets (45%) are Millennials or Generation Z.
Of the two younger generations it is Generation Z that is more likely to own both Huawei and Oppo mobile phone handsets.
Over a third of Australians owning Oppo handsets (36%) and nearly a third of Australians owning Huawei handsets (30%) in Generation Z compared to 22% of Australians owning handsets overall.
A similar proportion of Australians owning Huawei handsets (20%) or Oppo handsets (20%) are Baby Boomers just less than the comparable overall figure for Baby Boomers of 22%.
However, only 12% of Australians owning Oppo handsets and 17% of Australians owning Huawei handsets are in Generation X - Nearly a quarter of Australians owning handsets are in Generation X (23%).
“Chinese smartphone handset maker Huawei has been in the news for all sorts of reasons in recent weeks and months however the performance of Huawei in the competitive Australian handset market reveals Huawei, along with rival Chinese firm Oppo, is making significant inroads,” says Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine.
“The number of Australians with a Huawei handset has increased by a stunning 87% over the last two years with 471,000 Australians now owning a Huawei mobile phone handset. The performance of Oppo is even more impressive. Now 368,000 Australians own an Oppo handset up from virtually nothing a few years ago. Oppo first entered the Australian mobile phone handset market late in 2014.
“Both handset makers have a strong appeal to younger Australians with Millennials, and especially Generation Z, providing the core of the market (over 50%) for both handsets. However, despite the strong growth in recent years for both Huawei and Oppo the market leaders have a substantial advantage over both Chinese handset makers.
“Over 8.6 million Australians own an Apple iPhone, an increase of 16% on two years ago and over 5.6 million Australians own a Samsung, virtually unchanged on two years ago. The recent controversies surrounding Huawei, which is also a significant manufacturer of important network infrastructure, are a concern for the company as it seeks to continue its strong growth in the Australian mobile phone handset market.