Can Xiaomi compete with Samsung and Apple?

The results of mobile phone market research show significant changes in the sales volume but also confirm once again that total sales of all manufacturers are lower than expected.
The global mobile phone market has grown by only 1.4 per cent, which is one of the worst results ever. Gartner’s survey for the third quarter of 2018 showed that 389,068 phones were sold during that period, while 383,593 phones were sold in the same period last year.
Huawei was the most advanced, which rose from 9.5 per cent to 13.4 per cent and reached 5.5 per cent of Samsung’s market share, which ranks 18.9 per cent. The South Korean company had the biggest annual decline, about 14 per cent.
Apple has managed to sell about 300,000 phones more than in the same period last year, which is not enough to move from 11.8 per cent of the market, so the result is the same as last year, while Xiaomi is fourth. The Chinese company has increased by seven per cent to 8.5 per cent and has sold over 33.2 million phones in the third quarter of 2018. The fifth on the list is OPPO, which increased its market share from 7.5 per cent to 7.7.
Gartner said that Samsung is in decline because the market did not react well to the Galaxy S9 and Note 9 models, also Apple is in stagnation because the premium segment of the market is saturated. Xiaomi and OPPO are the only ones to lead to a significant increase in sales, although the overall market has slowed down considerably.
Although a very young company founded in 2010, Xiaomi has bought another company, which is engaged in the production of mobile phones and has a successful smartphone application Meitu. This company has been very successful in China and has sold over five million phone handsets according to the latest business report so far, but the key to its success is the smartphone app and camera for selfie, which is distinguished by their effects and quality.
The first effects of cooperation between the two companies are expected during 2019 in terms of hardware, while applications for selfies could be found on the Xiaomi phones with some of the following software updates.
As Xiaomi highlighted at its UK press conference, in less than a decade it’s grown from being an obscure startup to a company with yearly revenues of $15 billion. In the announcement, Xiaomi says this will be the company’s first launch in the UK, and it looks like Xiaomi will launch a phone with an in-display fingerprint scanner.
Xiaomi is conquering a part of the world’s largest smart market- China, In a place where iPhones and Samsung’s are prohibitively expensive for the majority of the population, local companies cashed in on the underserved millions. Cheap Android devices that were better than their prices would suggest skyrocketed these brands to mainstream status in double-quick time.
China remains the largest smartphone market in the world, but it was only a matter of time before a saturation point was reached; device shipments eventually shrunk in 2017 following nine years of consistent growth. Naturally, Xiaomi outgrew its homeland and began expanding to other territories, starting with Singapore in 2014. Soon after, it set its sight on India, and now the company dominates the second biggest smartphone market as the category leader.
“Europe is a key priority for us in our global expansion and the UK plays a pivotal role in this journey. Even now we’ve launched in the UK, we believe we still have a lot to learn from our consumers and business partners,” said Xiaomi Sales and Marketing Director Wilkin W H Lee.
The next stop for Xiaomi is, of course is North America. On December 8, 2018, the company was holding a press conference in New York. Xiaomi already sells its action cameras, home security and electric scooter and a few other products in that region.
Xiaomi recently showcased a 5G version of its new Mi Mix 3 smartphone based on Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 855 5G-enabled chipset. The company showed off the high-bandwidth streaming capabilities of the smartphone’s connectivity specifications, including live video streaming. Xiaomi said it would be among the first wave of smartphone manufacturers to launch 5G-enabled devices.
Research shows that 5G technology and flexible or foldable phones will bring improved sales and market growth in 2019 and especially in 2020. Expectations are to sell over 65 million only 5G devices by the end of 2020, and that with the decline in the price of flexible phones, there will be an increased interest in this new technology.