Huawei Technologies Co Ltd said first-half smartphone shipments rose 62 percent year-on-year, as it targeted the more expensive smartphone sector dominated by South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Apple Inc.

Huawei shipped 34.27 million smartphones globally in the first six months, or about 43 percent of its full-year target of 80 million, according to Reuters' calculations based on figures provided by Huawei.

"We recorded faster growth in areas such as the Middle East and Africa and Latin America, with 275 percent and 550 percent year-on-year growth in the second quarter, respectively," Shao Yang, vice-president of marketing in the consumer business group, told Reuters in a written statement.