Xiaomi Overtakes Apple As World's No. 2 Smartphone Maker

Xiaomi Overtakes Apple As World’s No. 2 Smartphone Maker

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Xiaomi Overtakes Apple As World’s No. 2 Smartphone Maker – The big news today is that Xiaomi has overtaken Apple to become the No. 2 brand in the world, in terms of phones shipped.

The Smartphone market is super competitive. If a company cannot ship and sell their product they’re going to go bankrupt. One good metric by which we can tell how smartphones are performing is the number of phones that they can ship to their suppliers. The second is how much of the market that they hold and control. Xiaomi is the undisputed number 1 in India (2nd most populous country in the world) and is top of the leaderboard in Western European markets. It is on this basis that Xiaomi has overtaken Apple to become the No. 2 brand in the world.

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The company has taken to its FB page to proudly announce this development.

Prior to now, Xiaomi was in fourth place overall behind Samsung, Huawei, and Apple. With the recent troubles faced by fellow Chinese giants Huawei and their subsequent decline, Xiaomi took full advantage and moved up to the third position as Huawei plummeted. Samsung and Apple were first and second respectively.

Xiaomi Overtakes Apple – KEY POINTS

  • Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi was the second-largest smartphone maker in the second quarter, overtaking Apple, according to analyst firm Canalys.
  • Xiaomi had a 17% share of global smartphone shipments, ahead of Apple’s 14% and behind Samsung’s 19%.
  • Xiaomi has expanded rapidly in international markets and is now trying to push into the premium segment with smartphones such as the Mi 11 Ultra.

GUANGZHOU, China — Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi was the second-largest smartphone maker in the second quarter, overtaking Apple, according to analyst firm Canalys.

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

“Xiaomi is growing its overseas business rapidly,” Canalys research manager Ben Stanton said in a press release, noting shipments increased 300% year on year in Latin America and 50% in Western Europe.

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

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

But the Beijing-headquartered company is now looking to push into the high-end market. Earlier this year, it launched the Mi 11 Ultra, a premium smartphone that starts at 5,999 yuan ($928). It also launched the 9,999 yuan Mi Mix Fold, its first foldable phone.

That price range pits Xiaomi against Apple and Samsung in the premium segment. Its domestic rivals Oppo and Vivo 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.

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“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 largest smartphone player in the world, but U.S. sanctions cut the Chinese company off from critical supplies including software and chips, causing its sales to plunge.

While smartphones still account for the majority of Xiaomi’s revenue, the company is looking to get into new areas. In March, the technology firm announced plans to launch an electric vehicle business and invest $10 billion over the next 10 years.

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