Apple is overtaken by China’s Xiaomi in the global smartphone market

July 19, 2021: -Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi was the second-largest smartphone maker in the second quarter, a new report of overtaking Apple from analyst firm Canalys showed.

Xiaomi had a global smartphone shipments share of 17%, after Apple’s 14% and behind Samsung’s 19%.

“Xiaomi is climbing its overseas business rapidly,” Canalys Research Manager Ben Stanton said, noting that shipments are rising 300% year-on-year in Latin America and 50% in Western Europe.

The Chinese smartphone maker posted year-on-year smartphone shipment growth of nearly 83% versus 15% for Samsung and 1% for Apple.

Stanton said that Xiaomi phones are skewed toward the mass market, with the average selling price of its handsets 75% cheaper than that of Apple’s.

But the Beijing-headquartered company wants to push into the high-end market. It launched the Mi 11 Ultra, a premium smartphone this year that starts at 5,999 yuan. It also found the 9,999 yuan Mi Mix Fold, its first foldable phone.

That price pits Xiaomi against both Apple and Samsung in the premium segment. But Oppo and Vivo, its domestic rivals, are also trying to break through into the high-end market.

“It will be a tough battle, with Oppo and Vivo sharing the same objective, and both willing to spend big on above-the-line marketing to build their brands in a way that Xiaomi is not,” Stanton said.

“All vendors are fighting hard to secure component supply amid global shortages, but Xiaomi already has its sights set on the next prize: displacing Samsung to become the world’s largest vendor.”

Xiaomi has benefitted from Huawei’s struggles. Huawei was once the most prominent smartphone player globally, but U.S. sanctions cut the Chinese company off from critical supplies, which include software and chips, causing its sales to plunge.

While smartphones still account for most of Xiaomi’s revenue, it is looking to get into new kinds of business areas. In March, the technology firm announced plans of launching an electric vehicle business and investing $10 billion over the next ten years.