Xiaomi Becomes Fourth Largest Smartphone Vendor Globally, Overall Shipments Fall 2 Percent: Strategy Analytics

As a ripple effect, the significant growth from India and remarkable history from China are apparently helping Xiaomi reach new levels all across the globe. The Beijing-based company, which filed for a Hong Kong initial public offering on Thursday to raise as high as $100 billion (roughly Rs. 6.66 lakh crores), has become the fourth largest smartphone maker worldwide by marking 125 percent annual growth, as per an industry report. This comes alongside the overall drop in global smartphone shipments and notable contraction of Samsung that is presently competing against Apple to lead the market.

The report, which comes through the latest research from Strategy Analytics, shows that while global smartphone shipments fell 2 percent annually from 353.8 million units in the first quarter of 2017 to 345.4 million in the first quarter of 2018, Xiaomi reached the fourth spot - surpassing Oppo that slipped to the fifth place. The Chinese company, which is on the move to expand its retail footprint by launching new Mi Home stores and expanding partnerships with e-commerce companies such as Flipkart and Amazon, is said to have shipped 28.3 million smartphone units in the first quarter that resulted in a market share of 8.2 percent. This is impressive enough if we look at the market share of 3.6 percent reported in the first quarter of 2017. Oppo, on the other hand, shipped 24.1 million units in the same quarter, with its market share declined from 7.8 percent in the first quarter of 2017 to 7 percent.

"Xiaomi's growth soared 125 percent annually in the quarter, outperforming all its major rivals. Xiaomi is expanding like wildfire across Asia, particularly in India," said Linda Sui, Director, Strategy Analytics, in a press statement. "Oppo slipped to fifth place, capturing 7 percent global smartphone market share in Q1 2018, tumbling from 8 percent a year ago. Oppo has been hit hard by Xiaomi's rapid retail expansion and Huawei's much-improved Android device portfolio."

Coming towards the market leaders, Samsung made a comeback to the first position after losing top spot to Apple in the previous quarterly report by Strategy Analytics and captured a market share of 22.6 percent with 78.2 million units shipped in the first quarter. Apple, in contrast, went back to the second position shipped 52.2 million units in the same quarter and has a market share of 15.1 percent. Huawei is sitting at the third position by shipping 39.3 million units and with a market share of 11.4 percent.

"Samsung is holding steady in its core markets of North America, Western Europe, and South Korea, but the company is facing intense competitive pressure in China and India from rivals such as Xiaomi. Apple grew an above-average 3 percent annually and shipped 52.2 million smartphones for 15 percent market share worldwide in Q1 2018. Apple iPhone shipments have grown year-on-year in three of the past 4 quarters. Apple's ultra-premium iPhone X is proving relatively popular in some markets like China and the US, while there remains scope for additional expansion in emerging regions such as India and Africa," said Neil Mawston, Executive Director, Strategy Analytics.