Xiaomi’s recent foray into the high-end, premium segment may be a risky move for the Chinese brand, but it seems that Xiaomi played its cards right according to Canalys’ 3Q 2020 report. For the first time, Xiaomi enters the top 3 spot, overtaking Apple by almost 4%. Compared to last year, Xiaomi’s market share grew to an incredible 45%—the highest among competing smartphone brands.
Xiaomi’s annual growth is incredible compared to other brands as 2020 is an extraordinary year because of the effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking through Canalys’ data, Huawei suffered the biggest loss at 23%—though the brand maintained its top 2 position with a 4.6% lead over Xiaomi.
“Xiaomi took a risk setting high production targets, but this move paid off when it was able to fill channels in Q3 with high-volume devices, such as the Redmi 9 series. The vendor invested to bring in local expertise to gain the trust of distributors and carriers,” Analyst Mo Jia said.
As for overall shipments, Q3 2020 reveals a 1% decline compared to last year. However, this shows a significant recovery compared to Q2 2020 as restrictions are eased in some countries.
