Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:0059935) have serious competition in China. Xiaomi now takes the lead position as top smartphone maker in China’s mobile gadget market. New research from analysts firm Canalys explained that mainland China actually counts for about 37% of global smartphone shipments during this year’s second quarter. Much of this can be attributed to Xiaomi, which saw a 240% growth from last year.
Xiaomi takes on Samsung and other phone makers
Xiaomi was initially a niche player before it dethroned major mobile players including Lenovo Group Limited (ADR) (OTCMKTS:LNVGY) (HKG:0992), Huawei Technology Co Ltd (SHE:002502), ZTE Corporation (SHE:000063) (OTCMKTS:ZTCOF), and Samsung. Just mere days ago, a report from Strategy Analytics claimed Xiaomi is poised to become the fifth largest smartphone in the world.
Jingwen Wang, research analyst for Canalys, believes this is a major achievement for the China-based tech brand. He also explained the Samsung’s under-strength performance helped pave the way for Xiaomi to rise, but that is just part of the story. Xiaomi saw a significant increase in shipments of great products at competitive prices. Right now things are looking golden for the Chinese tech maker, but the real test will be if it can deliver to the country’s growing demand of 4G services.
What Xiaomi wants to do next
Not surprisingly, Xiaomi wants to take on other markets in Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, and Thailand in the latter half of the year. Another analyst, Jessica Kwee, believes the company’s aggressive pricing points will resonate far behind it’s home country. However, the challenges Xiaomi will face when it tries to reach the global scale of success are not to be ignored.
If the tech company wants global success, it will first need to tailor services to meet international needs. What service or marketing technique that works for one country won’t necessarily bode well with another country.
Although Samsung now sits at second place in China’s market, it still retains the global lead with 26% share.
