Xiaomi moves past struggling Huawei as No 1 Chinese smartphone vendor in global market

Xiaomi Corp, backed by 10 years of steady growth, cemented its position as the smartphone industry’s leading Chinese vendor in 2020, when it gained significant market share at home and abroad from US sanctions-hit telecommunications equipment giant Huawei Technologies Co.

“When Huawei was added to the US Entity List in mid-2019, it was the [world’s] second-biggest smartphone maker by volume,” said Fiona Vanier, senior analyst for forecasting at CCS Insight. “By the final quarter of 2020, it had slipped to fourth place and we expect its global market share to keep declining.”

On Wednesday, Xiaomi reported its most profitable year so far on the back of expanded sales and global market share, especially in European countries where Huawei once was the Chinese Android smartphone brand of choice.

That rise reflected the aggressive moves made by Xiaomi to compete against Huawei in mainland China and in international markets, where the Shenzhen-based telecoms gear maker has been a strong handset vendor for many years. It has also come amid rival Huawei’s struggles with tightened US trade sanctions.

Xiaomi’s share of the global smartphone market rose to 11.2 per cent in the fourth quarter on total shipments of 43.3 million units, according to data from research firm IDC. That put the company firmly in third place, behind Apple and Samsung Electronics.