Huawei sold more smartphones than Apple in 2019, according to new market research.

It's a triumph for Huawei, which is facing sanctions from the US that ban the company from accessing Google's Android apps.

Such a sanction would typically cripple a smartphone company, but Chinese smartphone users rallied behind Huawei in 2019.

On top of that, regardless of the sanctions, Chinese smartphone users haven't had access to the Google Play Store since 2010. Smartphones without Google Android apps is business as usual for them.

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Huawei sold more smartphones than Apple in 2019, according to market research from Counterpoint Research and Strategy Analytics.

Between figures from both reports, Huawei sold around 240 million smartphones in 2019 compared to Apple's 197 million. It also means that Huawei took Apple over as second-largest smartphone maker in the world. Huawei also sold about 35 million more smartphones than it did in 2018. Samsung is holding its first place lead with about 295 million smartphones sold in 2019.

That's a triumph for Huawei when its new smartphones aren't allowed to host Android apps from Google's Play Store. Indeed, Huawei was banned from using Google's Mobile Services in May 2019, which includes the Google Play Store where users can download the apps they want.

It doesn't usually turn out well for a smartphone maker when its smartphones can't run popular apps from a popular app store. But Huawei's comeback — success, even — amid the sanctions that would typically cripple a smartphone maker may not be so surprising.

Chinese smartphone users rallied behind Huawei in 2019, and the company's smartphone sales rose while it was being singled out during the Trump administration's trade war with China, according to The New York Times.

And for users in China, smartphones without Android apps from the Google Play Store is business as usual. The US sanctions against Huawei wouldn't have much of an effect on Chinese smartphone users. The Google Play Store hasn't been available in China since 2010, and Chinese app developers have made their own hugely popular apps like social media platform Weibo, ecommerce app TaoBao, and the "Netflix of China," IQIYI.

Still, while the US sanctions against Huawei doesn't affect the Chinese market too much, it would surely have an impact across its boarders where Huawei phones are also available. And yet, it still sold more phones and Apple.

Amid the smartphone sales results, Huawei seems to have strengthened its resolve, too. The company said it wouldn't return to using Google's Mobile Services and Google's Play Store even if the US' ban is lifted, according to Austrian newspaper Der Standard.

The company plans on continuing the development of its own ecosystem and app store, in which it is investing $3 billion in 2020.