Nothing tells Xiaomi’s story better than this fact: the brand has just climbed to second place in the world’s top smartphone makers, overtaking Apple by a comfortable margin of difference, to now have a 17% share of the market.
This puts the brand close to dominance, as Samsung is just above 19%. But, while in a very difficult market, Samsung saw a 15% growth in its sales, Xiaomi rose 83%, largely due to its meteoric expansion in South America and Africa, where it grew 300% and 150% respectively.
In the last quarter of 2020, Xiaomi reached 43.4 million units sold, a year-on-year growth of 31.5%, surpassing Apple in third place. In the first quarter of 2021, Apple captured 15% of the market, becoming No. 2, while Xiaomi continued to grow, with 49.4 million units distributed, a year-on-year growth of 69.1%.
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In Europe, Xiaomi has also brought to fruition its policy of proximity to its users, betting on the opening of stores that offer a very proximal service, with a bet not to focus only on the most elite points.
According to Canalys, one of Xiaomi’s most attractive points is its lower average prices than its main competitors, Samsung and Apple, which is easy to understand in today’s market. But for the agency, Xiaomi should also aim to grow in the premium segment. Of course, Xiaomi’s prices are easy to explain with the company’s commitment of 5% of profits that it has been reiterating, always promising that the surplus will always be invested in its customers (ie, in R&D, in the cost-effectiveness of equipment.
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In a letter sent to Xiaomi employees, Lei Jun, founder, President and CEO of Xiaomi, highlighted that reaching 2nd place worldwide is a historic milestone, the culmination of 5 years of self-improvement under difficult conditions, during which the capabilities of Xiaomi’s product design paved the way for premium segment and market dominance.
And indeed, if the brand’s goal is now to dethrone Samsung’s long history of dominance, to achieve this, Xiaomi continues to innovate in several areas, ranging from hardware to artificial intelligence, with its smart factory starting to work , allowing the production of one million units per year, in addition to facilitating the research and development of new materials, components and equipment.
Xiaomi’s success story is, above all, about partnerships. The brand has shown greater maturity in managing the international market, striving to guarantee quality after-sales services and prestigious branding. Equipment like the Mi 11 Ultra show that the brand is here to manufacture the best possible smartphones with the latest technology available, while the Redmi show that Xiaomi has not lost its roots.
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