Huawei has become the biggest maker of smartphones after rivals took a hit from the Covid crisis.

The Chinese company, whose brand ambassadors include Wonder Woman film star Gal Gadot, shipped 55.8million phones in the second quarter of this year, outpacing Korea's Samsung for the first time.

Samsung's 53.7million smartphone shipments were a 30 per cent fall on the same period last year.

More than 70 per cent of the phones produced by Huawei, which is barred from operating large parts of Britain's 5G network, were sold to Chinese customers.

Canalys, the research company that compiled the data, said coronavirus was a key factor. 

Its senior analyst, Ben Stanton, said: 'This is a remarkable result that few people would have predicted a year ago. Samsung has less than 1 per cent market share in China, and has seen its core markets, such as Brazil, India, the US and Europe, ravaged by outbreaks and lockdowns.

'Huawei has taken full advantage of the Chinese economic recovery to reignite its smartphone business.'

Huawei's main business is designing equipment to connect buildings to broadband, in which it is the world leader.

But amid security concerns about its links to the Chinese Communist Party, Boris Johnson last month said he would strip Huawei out of the UK's 5G network by 2027, having given it the green light in January.