The Second Largest Mobile Phone Manufacturer, Xiaomi's Production Is Now Bigger Than Apple

JAKARTA - Beijing-based mobile phone company Xiaomi currently produced more smartphones worldwide than Apple during the second quarter of this year. Xiaomi's production capability is their first record so far.

According to a report by market analyst Canalys, Xiaomi is claimed to have manufactured around 17 percent of all phones in the world during the April to June period. While Apple is only able to produce about 14 percent. Meanwhile, the mobile giant from South Korea, Samsung, still occupies the first position, with 19 percent distribution worldwide.

The report comes as Apple pushes high-end devices like the iPhone 12, some of which come with a sticker price of over USD 1.000.

Xiaomi, on the other hand, sells phones that are 75 percent cheaper than iPhones and 40 percent cheaper than Samsung devices. "This makes Xiaomi a highly sought-after phone in developing countries", said Canalys research manager Ben Stanton.

While Samsung held on to the top spot in the second quarter, Xiaomi seems to be quickly gaining traction. The worldwide production of mobile phones from the Beijing-based company increased by 83 percent year over year. While Samsung only increased by 15 percent and Apple only 14 percent.

“Xiaomi is already eyeing the next prize: displacing Samsung to become the world's largest mobile phone vendor. Xiaomi is growing its overseas business rapidly", said Stanton.

Stanton stated that Xiaomi's sales increased by more than 300 percent year over year in Latin America and 150 percent in Africa.

This isn't the first time the Chinese phone maker has overtaken Apple. Shenzhen-based Huawei surpassed Apple in phone sales for the first time in 2018, before being banned from the US market through US sanctions imposed by the Trump administration.

Huawei was not on Canalys' list of the top five smartphone makers in the second quarter of 2021. But the ranking is rounded off to that of two other Chinese phone makers – Oppo and Vivo – which each account for 10 percent of global smartphone distribution.