Huawei overtakes Samsung as top smartphone seller

China's Huawei has overtaken Samsung to become the number-one smartphone seller worldwide in the second quarter, industry tracker Canalys said Thursday.

Canalys said embattled firm, which is facing US sanctions, shipped 55.8 million devices — overtaking Samsung for the first time, which shifted 53.7 million units.

The research group said the US sanctions had "stifled" Huawei's business outside mainland China, but that it had grown to dominate its substantial domestic market.

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More than 70 per cent of its smartphones are now sold in the country, Canalys said.

Huawei said in a statement it was a sign of "exceptional resilience".

Overseas shipments, however, fell nearly a third in the second quarter and Canalys analyst Mo Jia warned that strength in China alone "will not be enough to sustain Huawei at the top once the global economy starts to recover".

Huawei has become a pivotal issue in the geopolitical standoff between Beijing and Washington, which claims the firm poses a significant cybersecurity threat.

The US has also requested the extradition of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on fraud charges, further damaging relations between China and Canada, where she is under house arrest.