14 DAY TRIAL // Chinese OEM Xiaomi has just made it into top 3 world’s largest smartphone makers. This is a very surprising turn of events considering that Lenovo and LG came in fourth.
According to IDC’s worldwide smartphone shipments statistics for the Q3 2014, Xiaomi jumped in the top 5 list for the first time directly on number 3 position.
One of the main reasons for the company’s quick ascendancy in the smartphone business could be Xiaomi’s focus on the Chinese market, which is the largest in the world.
Most of Xiaomi’s products are alternatives to more expensive smartphones available in China, but also in other countries. However, along with much lower prices Xiaomi also offers a certain level of quality in terms of hardware and build.
It's the first time Xiaomi makes it to top 5 world's largest smartphone manufacturers
Some may even consider Xiaomi’s products being on par with Samsung’s in terms of build quality, but that’s everyone’s choice. All in all, Xiaomi Mi4 is one of the most popular Android smartphone in China and that greatly help the handset maker get triple-digit year-over-year growth.
Xiaomi managed to ship no less than 17.3 million smartphones in Q3 2014 and has a 5.3% market share worldwide. Considering the company had a 2.1% market share last year during the same quarter, the improvement is huge (211%).
It remains to be seen how Xiaomi will handle the new achievement and whether or not the company will be able to successfully enter additional markets, other than China, in order to boost sales of its smartphones even further.
Apple is right above Xiaomi in terms of smartphone shipments with 39.3 million iPhone units delivered in Q3 2014, while Samsung is still world’s top smartphone manufacturer with 78.1 million Galaxy handsets shipped.
Lenovo and LG improved their results by 40%, but it wasn't enough to surpass Xiaomi
Lenovo and LG come last in top 5 with 16.9 million and 16.8 million smartphones shipped in Q3 2014. The difference between the two companies is negligible, but what’s important is the fact that both LG and Lenovo improved their results by almost 40%.
IDC’s statistics claims the global smartphone shipments grew by 25.2% from last year to 327.6 million smartphone units shipped.
Beside the main five smartphone makers mentioned earlier, a number of 159.2 million smartphone units were shipped by other companies.
“Despite rumors of a slowing market, smartphone shipments continue to see record-setting volumes. We've finally reached a point where most developed markets are experiencing single-digit growth while emerging markets are still growing at more than 30% collectively,” said Ryan Reith, program director with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.
That’s probably one of the reasons many companies are now focusing on entry-level or lower-priced high-end smartphones for these emerging markets.