According to Gartner, a research and advisory firm, China’s telecom company Huawei continued to hold the position as the world’s second largest smartphone seller in the first quarter of this year, before the US imposed a ban on the telecom service provider.

Gartner’s report further stated that the Chinese telecom company continued its race to bridge the gap with Samsung, the world leader in the smartphone market; warning however that Huawei’s business growth could be reduced in the near future, after being blacklisted by the US.

The report data suggested that Samsung continued to be no. 1 in the global smartphone sales, holding 19.2% market share in the first quarter of this year. Meanwhile, Huawei displayed the highest year-over-year growth across all regions, with a total sale of 58.4 million smartphones in the first quarter of 2019. This makes Huawei stand second among the top five smartphone vendors in the world in the following order: Samsung, Huawei, Apple, Oppo, and Vivo.

Huawei showed exceptional performance in two of its biggest phone markets – Europe and Greater China – reporting an increase in smartphone sales by 69% and 33% respectively. The Chinese telecom provider accounts for a 29.5% market share in the Greater China market.

However, the US restrictions imposed on Huawei are expected to discourage buyers. According to data released by PriceSpy, a product comparison website reporting 14 million visitors every month, Huawei smartphones attracted lesser clicks last week from online shoppers.

Anshul Gupta, Senior Research Director, Gartner said, “Unavailability of Google apps and services on Huawei smartphones, if implemented, will upset Huawei’s international smartphone business which is almost half of its worldwide phone business. Not the least it brings apprehension among buyers, limiting Huawei’s growth in the near term.”

On May 15 this year, the US blacklisted Huawei from buying US products on the accusation that the former engaged in activities which were not in the interest of national security. Last week, the US government made an exception to its rule by granting the Chinese telecom company license to purchase US products only until August 19, 2019.