Smartphones: Apple surpassed by Mi in China

Mi (ex Xiaomi) under top 20 smartphones just robbed second place in China over Apple on the smartphones market. The Chinese manufacturer makes a breakthrough with 21% market share, exceeding the firm at the apple (16%) according to a study Kantar World Panel. The impact on the absolute sales of the iPhone is still limited since only 5% of new clients come from Mi Apple. Both companies are positioning indeed on quite different segments.

In contrast with this trend, the Chinese manufacturer is fast catching the South Korean giant Samsung which is still dominant in the country with 23% market share. Especially sales of Xiaomi is more exercise to his detriment to other players: 17% of new consumers Xiaomi previously owned a Samsung model, while 21% were equipped with a terminal of one of five other leading brands (Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, Coolpad, OPPO). It is the same with the former Nokia consumers who account for 18% of new followers of Mi

International Expectations

According to the firm, this performance is due to the ability to attract Mii consumers who already owned a smartphones – they represent 70% of consumers who purchased a handset from the brand in the first five months of the year – and those who already had a Xiaomi phone (20%). In other words, the company has managed to create a brand value and a user which are beginning to bear fruit according to Kantar experience.

Founded in 2010 by Lei Jun in Singapore, was recently renamed Xiaomi Mi, a new name meant to expand the business internationally. In April 2014, it announced its intention to expand into 10 new countries (India, Russia and Brazil, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Mexico and the Philippines).