Xiaomi reportedly sold more smartphones than Apple in Q3 2020

[Polycount]

In brief: Apple is one of the biggest smartphone makers in the world, and one of the most well-known tech firms, to boot. However, in terms of pure smartphone sales, it seems like the company may have had its crown taken in Q3 2020. Analysts claim that Chinese phonemaker Xiaomi has pushed past Apple into the "No. 3" position for the first time ever, with a whopping 12.1 percent market share and roughly 44.4 million sales.

Apple, on the other hand, maintained a market share of around 11.1 percent, with Q3 smartphone sales totaling nearly 40.6 million. The percent difference between these two companies is small, and might not seem too significant upon a cursory glance.

However, if you dig a little deeper, Xiaomi's explosive growth becomes far more impressive. This time last year, the phonemaker only had a market share of 8.5 percent, with Q3 shipments approaching the 33 million unit mark. According to Gartner's research, that's a sales boost of almost 35 percent. Apple, however, shipped fewer devices in Q3 2020 than it did in 2019, seeing a sales drop of around 0.6 percent.

Of course, Apple cannot be wholly blamed here. The Covid-19 pandemic has devastated global markets, resulting in both shipping and manufacturing delays. With this in mind, the company certainly has a valid excuse for declining smartphone sales, though it's peculiar to see Xiaomi excel where Apple is flagging (if only slightly).

Gartner researcher Anshul Gupta attributes the Chinese company's success to "near normal conditions" in China, as well as a sudden release of "pent-up demand" from previous quarters (when lockdowns and stay-at-home orders were more common).

Apple will likely bounce back from this minor slump in the coming months, as the world continues to recover from (and adapt to) the Covid-19 pandemic.

Image credit: NYC Russ, Robson90

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https://www.techspot.com/news/87787-xiaomi-reportedly-sold-more-smartphones-than-apple-q3.html

 

[VitalyT]

That's just because Chinese market is so huge, and Apple's position has weakened there, so Xiaomi absorbed what Apple lost. And paying 5-7 times more for Apple logo during pandemic is crazy even by Chinese standards

 

[DZillaXx]

I use a Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 as my daily driver. The Build quality is outstanding for how much I paid. It's put together just as well as any other high end phone and while the software was flawless day one. The newer versions of Android has brought along some minor bugs time to time. Which is a godsend compared to Samsung phones that are Buggy day one.

Cellphone makers like Samsung should take cues as all the bloat in Samsung phones is why I now avoid them. I use Nova Launcher, but the Miui version of Android Settings and all the enchantments on top of that is nothing but top notch. Packing features base android should adopt as standard.

Honestly not surprising they are doing so well. They are one of the few brands that sell actually good working android phones.

 

[Gomos]

That's just because Chinese market is so huge, and Apple's position has weakened there, so Xiaomi absorbed what Apple lost. And paying 5-7 times more for Apple logo during pandemic is crazy even by Chinese standards

Actually you are quite wrong. Xiaomi is only the 4th most sold brand in China. The biggest contributor to Xiaomi's sales is by far India where it has 25% of the market (vs. 12% in China where Huawei, Oppo and Vivo are more popular). Xiaomi is also very popular in some European countries like for example Spain, where it's now the most sold brand.

 

[redhat]

Excellent performance per dollar! that is the main reason, in addition, they use the vanilla android in some cases which make their phones faster than comparable phones with same CPU

 

[Endymio]

With Apple slipping to 4th place in sales, it will be interesting to see the logical contortions the anti-Apple crowd invokes to retain their belief in Apple's "monopoly" power.

 

[Nobina]

They offer great hardware for the price. Apple does not.

 

[duckofdeath]

With Apple slipping to 4th place in sales, it will be interesting to see the logical contortions the anti-Apple crowd invokes to retain their belief in Apple's "monopoly" power.

Xiaomi doubles their sales in India, therefore Apple isn't abusing its market share in the US.
Sounds about right, if you're stuck in the wonderful fantasy called RDF....

 

[Endymio]

Sounds about right, if you're stuck in the wonderful fantasy called RDF....

Welcome to the 21st century. The smartphone market is a global market. From your own living room, you can purchase phones made anywhere in the world. Defining the US market for phones is about as sensible as the "Provo, Utah" market -- the traditional geographic barriers used to define local markets do not exist in this case.

 

[duckofdeath]

You keep picking your facts as they suit you best. Keep distorting your reality.
An antitrust case in America has zero to do with sold Xiaomi phones in South Asia. That's a Giuliani argument. Though your cult and that other one has so much in common on how to deal with reality

 

[Endymio]

@duckofdeath, I'm sorry the facts are so upsetting to you. Case law, however, is clear. The market for a product is where the product is sold. In a Sec 2 Sherman case against Apple, their market would be by default worldwide. The DOJ can of course argue for a localized definition, but to do so they must demonstrate the existence of geographic market barriers to justify that definition. Would you like some case cites as reference?

 

[duckofdeath]

@Endymio Case law is indeed very clear. US law does not and have never applied to Asia. Antitrust applies to the market the law is written for, not the whole world. Anything trade related "controlled" globally goes under WTO and then ratified by individual countries, but antitrust is not part of that.

 

[Endymio]

@Endymio Case law is indeed very clear. US law does not and have never applied to Asia.

You claimed Apple holds monopoly power in the United States. Last time I checked, US law applies in that country.

Anything trade related "controlled" globally goes under WTO and then ratified by individual countries, but antitrust is not part of that.

So why even bring up the WTO? It's entirely irrelevant to the issue at hand.

 

[duckofdeath]

You know you're wasting your time with an Apple shill when the discussion flip flops in every sentence.....