Xiaomi Replaces Huawei as Third-Largest Smartphone Maker: Report

IHS iSuppli, a market research firm, on Monday claimed that Xiaomi sold 19 million smartphones in Q3 this year to leave behind Huawei who sold 16.8 million smartphones in the same period.

Notably, China's Huawei was according to IDC the 'world's third-largest phone maker' last quarter with its smartphone sales of 20.3 million units.

(Also see: Lenovo to Counter Xiaomi With New Smartphone Brand Next Year)

Another Chinese smartphone vendor, Lenovo, along with South Korean company, LG are closely following both the companies, as per IHS iSuppli.

LG earlier on Wednesday revealed that its July-September operating profit was more than doubled from a year earlier with the company's mobile division serving up its highest profit since 2009, with 16.8 million smartphones sold in the quarter.

The market researcher claims that Xiaomi's success in this quarter was mainly due to sales in its home country and expansion to markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong and India.

(Also see: LG Dismisses Xiaomi Challenge; Says G3 Doing Twice as Well in India Than G2)

The report said Xiaomi sold 5.7 million smartphones back in 2012, while 18.7 million handsets in 2013. In 2014, Xiaomi sold 11 million smartphones in the first quarter and 15.1 million in second quarter. Thanks to the massive sales figures, Xiaomi, often referred to as China's Apple, IHS iSuppli had pegged Xiaomi as the fifth-largest smartphone maker in the second quarter - which agrees with Strategy Analytics' global smartphone manufacturer rankings for the period.

IHS iSuppli also tips that Xaiomi is closely followed by its Chinese counterparts such as Meizu and OnePlus.

(Also see: Xiaomi Considering Manufacturing Phones in India: Report)

Xiaomi, according to Canalys, overtook Samsung in the Chinese smartphone market in the April-June period this year to become the top smartphone manufacturer in China, tripling its sales from the same period last year to 15 million units. Xiaomi has enjoyed much success in India this year as well, with strong sales figure of the Mi 3 and Redmi 1S smartphones.

The company has been making sales records online with the entire inventory of both the Mi 3 and Redmi 1S smartphones going out of stock within few seconds in each flash sale on Flipkart, the company's exclusive retail partner in the country.

Xiaomi's success has other companies worried, with Lenovo even officially announcing it would launch a new brand next year to counter Xiaomi's presence in the market.