Huawei smartphone revenue more than doubles

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd more than doubled its China smartphone revenue in the first half of 2015, defying a slowdown in the world's biggest handset market that is enveloping rivals Xiaomi Corp and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

The fourth-largest smartphone maker missed its global shipment targets for two years, but a focus shift to high-margin premium models pushed January-June worldwide shipments to 48.2 million phones, Huawei said on Wednesday. That puts it on course to move 100 million mobiles this year, 33 percent more than last.

The turnaround comes almost three years after Shenzhen-based Huawei decided to shed its budget appeal and challenge Samsung and Apple Inc at the high-end of the market, where analysts said an increasing number of previously price-conscious Chinese consumers are willing to spend their money.