There is no doubt that Xiaomi it does not have the track record that Apple can boast of, something that applies primarily to the smartphone market. Nevertheless, the success of the Chinese manufacturer has not stopped growing in recent years, while that of the Cupertino firm, although it continues to be supported by the millions of iPhone sales every year and is not bad at all, it has not been enough to not lower its positions in the ranking of smartphone manufacturers that more shipments do globally.
Recall that until not long ago Apple was in the second position of said top. The company was displaced at the beginning of 2018 by Huawei, thus remaining in the third position, while Samsung, even before, has been at the top of the list as the one that makes the most shipments worldwide, although for a moment it is It was overtaken by Huawei. Now it is Xiaomi that displaces the Manzanita firm to the third position, thus leaving it out of the top 3, quite an interesting feat.
Apple is displaced by Xiaomi
According to what the analysis firm reports Counterpoint, the global smartphone market declined 4% YoY, but grew 32% quarter-on-quarter, in order to reach 366 million units shipped in the third quarter of this year, according to the latest research from the Market Monitor Service of Counter point.
This recovery was driven by all key markets, such as the United States, India and Latin America, which slowly returned to normal due to the easing of lockdown conditions implemented by the current pandemic and other related factors. The smartphone market has shown resistance to the harmful effects of COVID-19, both from the supply side and the demand side. This suggests that mobile manufacturers have not been noticeably affected in recent months.
Samsung ranked first as the top shipping firm globally, shipping 79.8 million units to register a quarterly growth of 47% and an annual growth of 2%. It is worth noting that this is the highest shipment made by the South Korean in the last three years.
Mobile market analysis for the third quarter of 2020 | Source: Counterpoint
Huawei, for its part, ranked second in the world market, but it showed a downward trend, since its participation fell from 20% in the second quarter of 2020 to 14% in the third quarter of 2020, an indication of the decreasing reception that the brand has had due to issues such as the lack of Google Services on their phones, something that has a huge impact mainly on Western markets.
Counterpoint Xiaomi's performance also stands out. This company grew 75% quarter-on-quarter to obtain a 13% market share in the quarter. In particular, this was also the first time that Xiaomi surpassed Apple, in order to capture third place. Research analyst Abhilash Kumar had this to say:
"Xiaomi reached its highest shipments with 46,2 million units in the third quarter of 2020. In China, Xiaomi's fight for growth ended and shipments were up 28% YoY and 35% QoQ."
Apple iPhone shipments decreased 7% year-on-year during the third quarter of the year, as the company delayed the annual launch of its iPhone from the third to the fourth quarter. This affected the results collected in the analysis.
Mobile market analysis for the third quarter of 2020 | Source: IDC
IDC, another market analysis firm similar to Counterpoint, obtained similar conclusions that place Apple behind Xiaomi on its list of brands with the most shipments of smartphones worldwide. It states that the Asian manufacturer giant shipped 46.5 million devices to occupy the number 3 position globally, surpassing Apple for the first time, with a market share of 13.1% in the last quarter and an annual growth of 42.0%.