Can Xiaomi maintain its lead over Samsung?

Xiaomi has come a long way since its terrible 2016, but will it be able to maintain its number one position for longer than a month?

Xiaomi has already had a historic year, as the veteran manufacturer surpassed Huawei to become the world’s third-largest smartphone manufacturer in 2020. The increasing trend did not stop there, either.

According to Canalys’ Q2 2021 global market share report, Xiaomi built on its achievements by apparently passing Apple for second place. In comparison to Apple’s 14 percent market share, the company achieved a whopping 17% market share.

The pace hasn’t slowed down, and according to Counterpoint Research, Xiaomi has overtook Samsung for first place in June 2021. Xiaomi had a 17.1% share of sales, compared to Samsung’s 15.7%, according to the tracker.

As a result, a fundamental question arises. Will Xiaomi be able to retain its lead over Samsung for more than a month?

How did Xiaomi get to number one?

The primary reason for Xiaomi’s increased prominence is the United States’ trade embargo against Huawei. The penalties on Huawei eventually caused the company to plummet in the worldwide rankings.

These penalties allowed Xiaomi to enter the market, and the company passed Huawei in Q3 2020. Meanwhile, by July 2021, Huawei has slid out of the top five worldwide and Chinese companies. Xiaomi took advantage of this opportunity to enter (or expand in) over 100 international countries, frequently targeting Huawei’s strongholds in Europe, Southeast Asia, and other regions. In reality, Xiaomi increased by 50% in Western Europe on its route to second place globally, according to Canalys. In recent months, it has also seen strong annual growth in Africa (150%) and Latin America (300%).

When it came to carrier relationships, Huawei’s departure opened the path for Xiaomi, especially in the 5G era. It had made progress in this sector before to the Huawei ban, courtesy to partnerships with European carriers for its Mi Mix 3 5G, which was released in early 2019. Since then, things have only gotten better.

In late 2019, the manufacturer formed an Operator Business Development team to support its global carrier agreements, according to Android Authority. Xiaomi currently has direct contacts with 150 carriers around the world as a result of this team and other efforts, according to the company. That’s a pretty notable jump from September 2020, when it said it had partnerships with “50 telecoms carriers covering over 100 sub–networks.