Xiaomi takes chunk out of Apple and Samsung as sales soar

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has become the world’s third-largest mobile vendor with only Samsung and Apple shifting more units. The company, which was only been around for three years, was responsible for 6 per cent of all 320 million smartphones shipped between July and September.

Both Apple and Samsung have seen their market share fall, the latter down 10 per cent to 25 per cent and the former dropping slightly from 13.4 per cent to 12.3 per cent. The latest figures come from industry-watcher Strategy Analytics.

Despite being little-known outside its native China, the success of Xiaomi will come as little surprise in the world’s largest smartphone market. The company is a top-seller in the country and recently launched devices in India.

“Samsung continues to face tough competition from Apple at the higher-end of the smartphone market, from Xiaomi and Huawei in the middle-tiers, and from Lenovo and others at the entry-level,”  Strategy Analytics Executive Director Neil Mawston said.

The continued success of Samsung and the emergence of Xiaomi has helped to push up Android’s marketshare. The operating system now holds 83.6 per cent of the global market, up from 81.4 per cent this time last year.

Apple’s marketshare has fallen from 13.4 per cent to 12.3 per cent with Microsoft’s Windows Phone claiming 3.3 per cent, down from 4.1 per cent last year. Blackberry accounted for 0.7 per cent of the market, down from 1 per cent in 2013.