Xiaomi officially king on its own turf, overtaking Samsung

5 Aug 2014

The Xiaomi M3

Booming Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi has established itself as the producer of the best-selling smartphone in its native China, surpassing Samsung.

The South Korean manufacturer’s phones have long been among the best-selling phones in Asia, but as China’s own industry is developing, with Xiaomi and Huawei leading the charge. Xiaomi controls 14pc of China’s entire market, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The figures released by Canalys show that while Xiaomi has now established itself as a top seller, Samsung still isn’t too far behind, along with other Chinese manufacturers Lenovo and Yulong, who have about 12pc of the market share each.

According to market analysts speaking to The Wall Street Journal, the growth in Xiaomi’s product range is down to its lower cost compared with Samsung (Samsung’s phones range in the US$500 range while Xiaomi is closer to US$100) and the popularity of its Redmi series and its Mi flagship series.

The company has also been buoyed by its e-commerce division, a round of successful marketing campaigns and its continuing improvement of its software.

Xiaomi is considered to have a rather unique corporate structure, being privately owned by its CEO Lei Jun and a few private investors, and it sells its phones at a figure close to cost price with its revenues focused on its mobile applications.

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com