Why it matters: While Samsung is the biggest phone vendor in the world, it is no longer the top seller in Europe. One might expect the title to have passed to Apple, but that's not the case---Chinese giant Xiaomi now holds the honor of being number one on the continent.
According to Strategy Analytics, Xiaomi shipped a record 12.7 million smartphone units in Europe during the second quarter, giving it a market share of 25.3%. Second-place Samsung, meanwhile, managed 12 million shipments for a 24% share.
Xiaomi saw its YoY growth in Europe hit an impressive 67.1% compared to the same period a year earlier, while Samsung's fell -7%. The other two Chinese firms also saw a huge uptick in shipments: fourth place Oppo was up 180% YoY, and Realme saw a stunning 1800% increase, though both only managed to grab small percentages of the market share---5.6% and 3.8%, respectively.
Boris Metodiev, Associate Director at Strategy Analytics, said that "Xiaomi has seen great success in Russia, Ukraine, Spain and Italy among others and found customers eager for its Mi and Redmi series of feature rich, value smartphones."
It's likely that Xiaomi's growth was helped by the demise of Huawei in Europe and LG's exit from the phone market. A recent report showed that the latter's decision to stop making phones had left a void in the US market that's being filled by OnePlus, Motorola, and Nokia HMD.
The post-Covid recovery has seen overall smartphone shipments hit 50.1 million in Europe, up 14.4% YoY. However, Quarter-to-Quarter growth decline by -15% from 59.1 million shipments in Q1 2021.
It's been a fantastic few weeks for Xiaomi; not only is it now Europe's biggest phone vendor, but it also knocked Apple off its number two spot in the global rankings last month.