Xiaomi has toppled Samsung to rank as the largest smartphone in the world by volume for the first time ever, in June 2021. According to data released by COunterpoint Research, Xiaomi has overtaken Samsung due to a number of combined factors in June 2021, although it still remains number two behind Samsung if the entire second quarter is taken in account. Xiaomi’s global smartphone shipment market share for June 2021 was 17.1 percent, followed by Samsung with 15.7 percent of market share at second place, and Apple with 14.3 percent of the market in third.
For June 2021, Xiaomi’s sales reportedly saw a 26 percent month on month growth to overtake Samsung. The latter, which has long reigned as the largest smartphone vendor in the world, has been crippled with supply constraints due to the market situation in Vietnam, which is where Samsung manufactures and ships a bulk of its phones from. On this note, COunterpoint expects Samsung to bounce back once its supply issues get resolved, which may see Xiaomi fall back to second again.
Detailing the market movement, Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint said, “Ever since the decline of Huawei commenced, Xiaomi has been making consistent and aggressive efforts to fill the gap created by this decline. The OEM has been expanding in Huawei’s and Honor’s legacy markets like China, Europe, Middle East and Africa. In June, Xiaomi was further helped by China, Europe and India’s recovery and Samsung’s decline due to supply constraints.”
Xiaomi has reportedly sold over 800 million devices since its inception in 2011, according to Counterpoint. It has steadily reigned as the largest smartphone vendor in India for quite some time now, with Samsung in second place. The company has also steadily started appealing more to premium smartphone buyers, with devices such as the Mi 11 series taking on established flagship devices such as Samsung’s Galaxy S series of late. It will be interesting to note how the market reacts once Samsung’s production reaches back to its usual point, and if Xiaomi manages to hold on to its market lead.
