Xiaomi Overtakes Apple as World’s Second-Largest Smartphone Maker

Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi has overtaken Apple’s as the second largest smartphone maker in the world, after Samsung.

According to data from Canalys, the Chinese firm was the second-largest smartphone maker in the second quarter. The data revealed that Xiaomi had 17 percent share of global smartphone shipments which is only behind that of Samsung which stood at 19 percent. Apple sits third with 14 percent of the global smartphone shipments.

Xiaomi’s growth was driven by rapid growth in markets outside China, said Ben Stanton, research manager at Canalys. The Chinese phonemaker’s shipments to Latin America and Africa rose by more than 300 percent and 150 percent, respectively. Xiaomi’s shipments to Western Europe also went up by 50 percent, he added.

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

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

Historically, the trio of Samsung, Apple and Huawei had remained at the top three positions. But the exit of Huawei has opened the floodgates and Chinese smartphone companies like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo have gained a larger share.