In just three years, Xiaomi Inc has achieved something unbelievable. The company is now ranked as the third-largest smartphone vendor after Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KRX:005930) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).
Xiaomi a worry for Samsung
With Xiaomi’s huge success, many analysts and experts are now taking interest in the company. Strategy Analytics said in a report that the company accounted for 6 percent of all 320 million smart phones shipped during the month of July-September.
Owing to the cut throat competition, market share of the bigger players like Samsung fell from 35 percent to 25 percent. On the other hand, the most loved brand Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has also seen some decline in its share to 12 percent.
In a statement, Strategy Analytics Executive Director Neil Mawston said “Xiaomi was the star performer,” and added that in the high-end segment, Samsung continues to face competition from Apple while at the middle-level, Xiaomi and Huawei are challenging the Korean firm. Also, Lenovo and other players are giving a tough fight to Samsung in the entry-level segment.
Tussle with Apple
Apart from competing, Apple and Xiaomi are also involved in a blame game with each accusing the other of copying the designs. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s Senior Vice President of design Jony Ive have long been accusing the Chinese firm of copying the designs and not innovating. Barra defended the claims twice once at the Vanity Fair Conference held on the 9th of October and then, a few days back, at a Live technology conference held at the Laguna Beach.
Barra said “Our designers, our engineers, are inspired by great products and great design out there. In today’s world, who isn’t?”.
Xiaomi is one of the top seller in its home market i.e. China. Recently, the company also entered some new markets such as India, where it sells phones exclusively through e-commerce site Flipkart.
The company is selling this Smartphone with decent prices and with good strategy. Recently, the Vice president of the company, Hugo Barra told Reuters in Bangladesh that the company aims to sell around 100,000 phones a week in India in October, during the time of Diwali.
