Xiaomi now is aiming to dethrone Samsung as the smartphone manufacturing market leader. According to research company Canalys, Xiaomi, based in Beijing, surpassed Apple to become the world’s No. 2 smartphone provider in the second quarter of this year.
It’s the first time Xiaomi, a Chinese company that makes everything from rice cookers to gaming displays, has cracked the top two, which have been controlled by Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. for years.
According to Canalys data, Xiaomi’s shipments increased by 83 percent year over year, giving them a 17 percent worldwide market share.
With 19 percent of the total market share, Samsung, the South Korean behemoth remained the world’s largest smartphone provider by shipments in the fourth quarter. Samsung maintained its lead over Xiaomi with a 19 percent worldwide market share, up 15% from a year earlier. Due to a sluggish 1 percent increase in sales, Apple fell to third place.
Apple accounted for 14% of the total market share, with a year-on-year increase of only 1%.
Two more Chinese makers, Oppo and Vivo, rounded out the top five, each with a 10% market share.
These businesses also saw significant growth compared to the same period last year, with Oppo seeing a 28 percent rise in shipments and Vivo seeing a 27 percent increase.
Huawei Technologies Co. momentarily destabilized the rankings before being cut off from critical chip supply last year due to penalties. Due to its exit from the highly competitive smartphone industry, other Chinese suppliers have been forced to invest heavily in new hardware and improvements.
Xiaomi was extremely busy in the first four months of the year, releasing two flagship smartphones. Its Mi 11 Ultra smartphone has one of the biggest camera sensors ever seen in a smartphone, indicating the company’s desire to go into the premium price bracket.
Xiaomi’s growth was fueled mostly by international expansion, with shipments growing by more than 300 percent in Latin America, 150 percent in Africa, and 50 percent in Western Europe, according to Canalys.
Mi has spent the first half of the year competing with Oppo and Vivo for the title of China’s largest smartphone manufacturer, with each company having a roughly similar market share.
Apple and Samsung are both preparing for new device releases in the coming months, thus the second quarter is usually their slowest period.
The iPhone manufacturer has requested suppliers to produce up to 90 million next-generation iPhones this year, a significant increase from the 2020 iPhone shipment target.
