Xiaomi Corp aims to outcompete South Korea’s Samsung to emerge as the world’s largest smartphone brand by shipments in three years. Xiaomi became the world’s No 2 smartphone maker in the second quarter of 2021. Data from Canalys, a market research provider, showed that Xiaomi is now ahead of Apple in the global smartphone market. This is the first time that Xiaomi finds itself behind only Samsung. Analysts said Xiaomi has posted substantial growth in overseas markets after Huawei Technologies Co’s smartphone business was crippled by U.S. government restrictions. The company will likely focus on building a firm presence in the high-end smartphone market. Lei Jun, CEO and Founder of Xiaomi, attributed the company’s lead over Apple in shipments to consumers’ love and support. Xiaomi will step up efforts to safeguard the No 2 position even as it makes a bold bid for the No 1 position over the next three years, he said.
Last week, Xiaomi lifted the curtain on its latest flagship handset Mi MIX 4 in China, featuring cutting-edge technologies such as an under-display camera. Priced from CNY4,999 in China, the Mi MIX4 series is the company’s latest push to expand its presence in the premium segment. Xiang Ligang, Director General of the Information Consumption Alliance, said Xiaomi is growing rapidly in overseas markets as it intensifies investments; and it will likely benefit a bit from Huawei’s decline in western Europe and other regions. Nabila Popal, Research Director for mobile and consumer device trackers at International Data Corp (IDC), a market research provider, said Xiaomi’s smartphone shipments hit a record 53.1 million units in the second quarter of this year, up nearly 87% year-on-year.
Analysts said though Apple moved to the third spot in terms of smartphone shipments in the second quarter, the company has seen incredible growth in China, especially in the premium segment. Huawei used to have a significant share in the high-end smartphone segment in China, and with its massive decline, Apple remained the best option for consumers in this segment, Popal said. In the first quarter, Apple had a 72% share of the above-USD800 segment in China, with Huawei’s share falling to just 24%.
Xiaomi also presented a new quadrupedal robot called CyberDog, marking the company’s entry into the four-legged robot market. The robot can also respond to voice commands, including recognizing wake-up words and instructions, and can be controlled using a connected smartphone app, the China Daily reports.
Meanwhile, Smartphone maker Honor launched the Magic 3 handset series aimed at the high-end market after its split from Huawei. Featuring the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 Plus 5G Mobile Platform, the latest smartphone in the Magic Series showcases its most innovative ideas, said the firm. Honor said it has invested heavily in R&D, with four R&D centers and over 100 labs worldwide, filing over 5,500 new patent applications to date, and quickly re-establishing strategic partnerships with some of the world's top suppliers. "The Magic 3 has the important task of regaining lost ground and competing with other flagship models,” Jiang Jun, a veteran industry analyst, told the Global Times. “Since the new series uses Qualcomm's most advanced chip – the Snapdragon 888 Plus – it shows Honor has officially established connections with mainstream suppliers and finished its restructuring after its spin-off from Huawei," Jiang said.
Huawei officially announced the divestment of the smartphone sub-brand Honor in November 2020. The sale included all the assets of Honor, and Huawei doesn't hold any stake in the new company. In May and June, Honor's sales grew 39% and 27% month-on-month, respectively. Honor's market share is moving toward a full recovery, according to market research company Counterpoint. Honor's foray into the high-end market may erode Apple's market share in China, and retake Huawei's lost ground in both the domestic and overseas markets, the Global Times reports.
