Huawei's smartphone business soars

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co. has reclaimed the top spot in China’s fiercely competitive smartphone market, but it still faces a tough fight in its goal to become the world’s top seller of phones, according to The Wall Street Journal. Huawei said it shipped 73 million smartphones during the first six months of the year, an increase of 21% from the same period last year. It said strong sales growth in China and Europe powered that increase, and that it sold more high-end phones. Though Huawei is narrowing the gap with Apple and Samsung , it still has some catching up to do with its rivals in the competitive and slowing smartphone market, especially overseas. It had 9.9% of global market share in the first quarter, up a percentage point from a year ago but behind rivals Apple and Samsung, according to analytics firm Canalys. The company has been in third place for two years.