Xiaomi Beats Apple in Global Smartphone Shipments, Becomes Second Largest Smartphone Brand

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has becomes the second-largest smartphone maker in the second quarter, overtaking Apple in global smartphone shipments, according to analyst firm Canalys.

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

A banner quarter for Xiaomi helped the Chinese mobile company snag the number two spot in global smartphone shipments, the newly posted Q2 numbers from research firm Canalys revealed.

It’s pretty stunning growth for the company, up 83% year-over-year for the quarter and capturing 17% of the global market.

The surge puts Xiaomi at second position globally, behind only Samsung’s 19% by a relatively small margin. Apple is at third with 14% (after its own solid growth has slowed), while fellow Chinese manufacturers Oppo and Vivo round out the top five at 10% a piece.

Huawei, of course, is nowhere to be seen among the top companies. It’s a pretty massive drop, due in no small part to blacklisting that has both barred the company from certain markets (namely, the U.S.) and cut off access to U.S. mobile products, including Google’s Android and various apps.

Canalys cites aggressive pricing as a big factor in Xiaomi’s success — particularly contrasted with premium priced offerings from Samsung and Apple.

“It is now transforming its business model from challenger to incumbent, with initiatives such as channel partner consolidation and more careful management of older stock in the open market,” the analyst firm’s Research Manager Ben Stanton said in a release.

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“It is still largely skewed toward the mass market, however, and compared with Samsung and Apple, its average selling price is around 40% and 75% cheaper respectively. So a major priority for Xiaomi this year is to grow sales of its high-end devices, such as the Mi 11 Ultra.”

“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.

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.

“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.

The company certainly isn’t a household name in the States (the company has dealt with its own issues here), but of late it has found particular success in Latin America, Africa and Western Europe. It seems that there are still plenty of markets available to continue its expansion as it looks to take on Samsung, even as Oppo and Vivo hope to continue their own respective rapid global growth.