The meteoric rise of Xiaomi is nothing short of impressive. In just four years the company has managed to be the third largest global smartphone vendor, overtaking established companies that have been in the segment for years. While companies such as Nokia, BlackBerry, Motorola and others are struggling to find their place in the smartphone environment, Xiaomi has continued to grow each successive quarter leaving these and other companies in its wake. According to the latest WSS (Smartphones) research service report from Strategy Analytics, Xiaomi was the clear standout during Q3 2014, as the 18 million units it sold elevated its global ranking.
The report revealed global smartphone shipments grew 27 percent annually to reach a record level in the third quarter of 2014, and the 5.7 percent market share Xiaomi was able to capture made the company the third largest smartphone vendor in the world for the first time since it was founded in 2010.
Xiaomi was co-founded by eight partners with experience in the IT field, including ex-employees of Google China. A little over a year after it was established, it announced Xiaomi Mi1 smartphone, and three years later it is in its fourth iteration with the M4. The growth the company is experiencing is even more impressive considering it doesn’t have retail stores and uses an online business model to sell its phones, tablets and wearable products.
The company’s growth is primarily being driven by the Chinese market, but it is looking to expand and has announced it will be targeting international markets in Asia and Europe, where it will face more competition as it fights to increase its brand awareness and encounter technology-patent challenges next year, according to Strategy Analytics.
The report revealed smartphone shipments increased from 252.9 million units in Q3 2013 to a record 320.4 million in Q3 2014. Demand in Asia and Africa was able to counterbalance lower performances in North America and Europe.
The top smartphone vendors, Samsung and Apple, both experienced lower numbers for the total global shipment. While Samsung shipped 79.2 million smartphones worldwide and captured 24.7 percent market share, it was 10 percent lower from the same period last year when it had 35 percent of the market. On the other hand, Apple shipped 39.3 million iPhones for 12.3 percent market share, which was below its annual average of 16 percent.
The remaining top five positions were taken by LG, rising to number four with 16.8 million smartphones around the world and 5.2 percent market share, which is a record for the company; and coming in at number five was Huawei with 16.5 million units at 5.1 percent market share.
Edited by
Maurice Nagle 
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