Huawei is a Chinese network infrastructure vendor that once made cheap phones for operators, but then they decided to pull an HTC and promote their own brand. The company has had a lot of success, no one is denying that, but they’re not growing as fast as they’d like.

Huawei repeatedly said they had a goal of shipping 60 million smartphones during calendar 2012, but it looks like they only managed to ship 32 million.

Granted, that’s an incredible 60% increase compared to 2011’s numbers, but still, it’s embarrassing to set a goal and then not reach it. So why did the company not hit their target? Ken Hyers, an analyst who spoke to Fierce Wireless, says that Huawei isn’t as strong in their home country as they’d like to be. Unsurprisingly, Samsung is eating their lunch. Ken also brings up Lenovo, China’s largest smartphone vendor.

He also says something that’s not going to shock anyone: Huawei’s flagship smartphones are just sitting on store shelves. Think about it for a second. If you’re living in China, and you know that being seen with a Samsung phone will make people believe you’re financially well off, why would you buy a Chinese phone that looks like a cheap knock off?

People often point to Huawei and say they’re going to be the next Samsung, but I don’t buy that. Yes, they’ve started designing their own smartphone chips in a bid to go vertical, but it’s way too early to call those efforts a success.

If I had to bet on which Chinese company is going to become the next darling of the tech world, I’d say Lenovo. They have talented designers, they’re growing at a steady pace, and they ship quality products. They’re not selling phones in Western markets yet, but that day will come.