After spending two quarters in second place, Huawei moved past Oppo to recapture the lead in China's smartphone market in Q1 2017, according to Canalys.

The Chinese smartphone giant, which launched the P10 and P10 Plus during MWC, shipped close to 21 million units to secure an 18% market share.

Despite strong annual growth of 55%, Oppo fell to second place with shipments of just under 20 million units. Third-placed Vivo had the lowest annual growth of the top three, capturing a 15% share with its shipment of 17 million units.

Xiaomi faces increasing pressure from Huawei's online efforts with Honor, as well as Oppo and Vivo, whose marketing activities have been taking attention away from Xiaomi.

Canalys estimates 114 million smartphones shipped in China in the quarter ending 31 March 2017.