Xiaomi Global Smartphone Shipments Grew 58 Percent Year-on-Year: Strategy Analytics

Strategy Analytics has come out with its latest report on the global smartphone shipments and Xiaomi, for the first time in a year, has made it to the first five spots. During Q2 2017, Xiaomi's global smartphone shipments grew 58 percent year-on-year to 23.2 million. Samsung managed to retain its top position in the list while Apple's shipments also witnessed growth during the same time period. Separately, Chinese companies Oppo and Huawei also managed to deliver impressive figures during the second quarter of 2017.

Thanks to its range of Android smartphones including Redmi 4A, which is proving "wildly popular" in India, Xiaomi was able to capture 6 percent of global smartphone marketshare in Q2 2017, as per the report by Strategy Analytics. The analytics firm says that the company was able to snatch volumes from other competitors such as Micromax and Lenovo in the country.

"Xiaomi has bounced back since ex-Google exec, Hugo Barra, quit the company earlier this year and Xiaomi will be hoping the current momentum can be sustained into the second half of 2017," Strategy Analytics said.

Unsurprisingly, with 79.5 million smartphone shipments, 2 percent up year-on-year, Samsung retained the top spot on the list. "Samsung continued its recovery from last year's Galaxy Note 7 battery fiasco, lifted by robust demand for the new Galaxy S8 portfolio with an innovative bezel-less design," Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, was quoted as saying in the report. Mawston further said that the rumoured Galaxy Note 8 with a bigger screen will further strengthen Samsung in the upcoming weeks.

While Apple's global smartphone shipments grew year-on-year to 41 million, the Cupertino-based company's market share came down to 11 percent from 12 percent in the same time period a year ago. "Apple's iPhone has gone out of fashion in China and this is placing a cap on its worldwide performance. Attention will now turn to Apple's rumored iPhone 8 introduction later this year and whether its tenth-anniversary flagship model will be different or exciting enough to ignite a rebound in iPhone volumes for the important Q4 2017 Western holiday season," Mawsten said.

Huawei and Oppo managed to deliver 38.4 million and 29.5 million shipments to get third and fourth spots on the list respectively during Q2 2017. With help from popular Android smartphones such as the P10 and Mate 9, Huawei managed to gain more market share and is even closing-in on Apple in terms of shipment numbers, Woody Oh, Director at Strategy Analytics said.

Oppo also managed to deliver an increase of 64 percent year-on-year in terms of global smartphone shipments during the second quarter of 2017 with impressive performance in markets including China, India, and Europe, as per the report.

Talking about the overall global smartphone shipments, Linda Sui, Director at Strategy Analytics, said, "Global smartphone shipments grew a solid 6 percent annually from 341.5 million units in Q2 2016 to 360.4 million in Q2 2017. The global smartphone market has settled into a steady rhythm of single-digit growth this year, driven by first-time buyers across emerging markets like Africa and upgrades to flagship Android models in developed regions such as Western Europe.