In 2017, Xiaomi opened its first physical store in Spain as part of a penetration strategy in the West and Europe. Today, 4 years later, the popular Chinese brand of electronic devices, creator of an ecosystem of ‘smart’ devices ranging from mobile phones to tablets, bicycles, fans or even a smart rice cooker ‘, can boast of being the first in sales in the EU, ahead of Samsung.
Xiaomi, the largest mobile phone seller in Europe
According to the last Strategy Analytics study, Xiaomi was at the forefront of all providers, obtaining a 25% market share in the second quarter of 2021 -From April to June, as shipments of smartphones in Europe registered a strong growth of 14% year-on-year to reach 50 million units. The rebound in the mobile market was driven by continued economic recovery, healthy consumer demand for aging devices, and attractive 5G devices at a good price.
Of course, the advantage is minimal, being shipments of 12.7 million in the case of Xiaomi and 12 million in the case of Samsung, so the tables may turn in the third quarter of this year, which runs from July to September. For Samsung it is a loss of 7%, but for Xiaomi it is a spectacular gain of 67.1% no less.
A success in Spain
Boris Metodiev, Associate Director of Strategy Analytics, notes that “European smartphone markets have had un strong quarter driven by the Covid recovery, after the 2020 crash “. And the highlight of the quarter is that Xiaomi has become the number one seller in terms of shipping for the first time: “Xiaomi shipped almost 13 million units to the continent to displace the usual leader, Samsung. Xiaomi has been very successful in Russia, Ukraine, Spain and Italy, among other countries, and has found avid customers for its Mi and Redmi series. “
For Neil Mawston, CEO of Strategy Analytics, “Samsung is doing well with the new 5G Galaxy A series models, but is facing to increasing competition from Apple in the high-end and from Chinese suppliers in the low-end, and has not been able to take advantage of the disappearance of Huawei in Europe “.
Apple growth
Apple, third on the list, has posted a strong quarter, growing by + 16% to / and sending almost 10M units in the second quarter across Europe. “The iPhone 12 series continues to resonate with loyal Apple customers who needed to replace their devices. “
OPPO (not including Realme and OnePlus) got almost 6% market share thanks to the popular OPPO A and Reno series. Rounding out the European top 5, Realme had a breakthrough quarter with the newly launched Realme 8 series, shipping nearly 2 million units in the second quarter of 2021.
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