By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Chinese firm Xiaomi has surged past Apple (AAPL) as is now second biggest global smartphone maker for the first time ever, according to market research firm Canalys, which also reports that Xiaomi is trying to knock off Samsung from the leaderboard.
Xiaomi took 17 per cent of worldwide smartphone shipments for the second quarter of 2021 (Q2 2021) behind Samsung’s 19 per cent, Canalys said in a report quoted by CNN.
Compared with Q1 2020, Xiaomi’s shipments jumped more than 80 per cent.
Apple ranked third, with shipments that accounted for 14 per cent of the global total. Chinese smartphone makers, Oppo and Vivo, followed with 10 per cent each.
The report measures the number of handsets manufacturers sell to distributors.
This is the first time ever Xiaomi took second place in the Canalys report. In Q1 2021 and for all of 2020, Samsung (SSNLF) and Apple (AAPL) were the world’s top two smartphone brands. In 2019, Samsung and Huawei topped the list.
Xiaomi sets sights on Samsung
Becoming the No. 2 vendor in the world is an “important milestone in Xiaomi’s history,” Lei Jun, founder and CEO of Xiaomi, said in a letter to employees.
“Notwithstanding the celebrations now, I want to make sure we can maintain our second place steadily and firmly in the future,” he said.
Xiaomi’s global expansion and its retail strategy – it wants its online and brick-and-mortar locations to work more seamlessly together – drove its growth in shipments in the second quarter, the company said in a statement.
Canalys research manager Ben Stanton also said in the report that Xiaomi is “growing its overseas business rapidly.”
During the second quarter, Xiaomi’s shipments increased more than 300 per cent in Latin America, 150 per cent in Africa and 50 per cent in Western Europe, according to Canalys.
Targeting budget consumers
The smartphone maker is still largely targeting budget-minded consumers, Stanton said. Compared with Samsung and Apple, Xiaomi’s average selling price is around 40 per cent and 75 per cent cheaper respectively, he added.
“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,” Stanton said.
The company also got a big boost from an improving global economy, Canalys added. The vaccine rollout has brought some countries closer to normalcy, and people are spending more money again.
In Q1 2021, global smartphone shipments increased 12 per cent, the research firm said.
Stanton expected that a major priority for Xiaomi this year will be to sell more of its high-end devices, such as the Mi 11 Ultra.
“But it will be a tough battle,” he said, as rivals such as Oppo and Vivo share the same objective.