Huawei beats Apple to become second-largest smartphone maker

iPhone manufacturer drops to third after Chinese company splits Samsung and Apple for first time in seven years

Huawei overtook Apple to become the world's second-largest smartphone seller behind Samsung in the second quarter, the first time in seven years that any contender has managed to split the top two.

Multiple market analysts said that Huawei's rise came as the slowdown in China, the world's largest market for smartphones, eased, with growing market share in Europe. Huawei failed in its recent bid to launch in the US after government action against companies deemed a security threat.