Xiaomi Rides Smartphone Shipment Surge to Post 19-Percent Jump in Profit

Xiaomi reported a 19 percent jump in third quarter net profit on Tuesday, beating estimates, as the Chinese smartphone maker's smartphone shipments over the quarter surged by 45.3 percent on a year earlier.

Smartphone revenue grew to CNY 47.6 billion (roughly Rs. 53,500 crores), an increase of 47.5 percent in the same period, it said in a statement. Overall quarterly revenue rose to CNY 72.1 billion (roughly Rs. 81,100 crores) up from CNY 53.7 billion (roughly Rs. 60,400 crores).

Analysts had on average forecasted that Xiaomi would report quarterly net profit of around CNY 3.28 billion (roughly Rs. 3,700 crores), according to Refinitiv data.

Xiaomi has grabbed market share from in China and Europe as its rival Huawei has struggled with US sanctions that have disrupted its supply chain.

The company anticipates it will continue to gain market share after the last round of US sanctions against the latter disrupted its supply chains in August, several industry sources told Reuters.

Xiaomi placed orders for up to 100 million phones between the fourth quarter of 2020 and first quarter of 2021, up 50 percent on projections before the August restrictions, consultancy Isaiah Research said.

The company rose to become the third-biggest seller of handsets in the third quarter, shipping 47.1 million units with 45 percent growth, according to consultancy Canalys. Samsung is the largest, followed by Huawei.

Xiaomi is also attempting to court Huawei's distributors in Southeast Asia and Europe in the hopes of gaining exclusive deals, and is actively targeting Huawei's high-end market share in China, said a source at Xiaomi familiar with the matter.

© Thomson Reuters 2020

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