Xiaomi Makes Gains Across Latin America, Japan, India

Matthew Broersma,
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Xiaomi smartphones

Xiaomi makes large smartphone market share gains in markets including Latin America, Japan, India as Southeast Asia sees premium growth

Beijing-based smartphone vendor Xiaomi has made large market share gains in regions including Latin America, Japan in India as it faces increasingly stiff competition in its domestic market.

The company’s shipments were up 35 percent year-on-year in Latin America in the second quarter, at 6.2 million units, taking it to the No. 2 spot after Samsung, Canalys said.

Samsung had 30 percent of the market to Xiaomi’s 19 percent, the report found, followed by Motorola Mobility, Transsion and Huawei spin-off Honor with 17 percent, 9 percent and 5 percent.

In Japan Xiaomi became the country’s third-biggest smartphone vendor with 6 percent, following a 359 percent year-on-year surge in shipments due to the launch of the premium Xiaomi 14 Ultra in May, which became the top seller on Rakuten, Canalys said.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook meets musicians in Vietnam and drinks an egg coffee in April 2024. Image credit: Tim Cook/X
Apple chief executive Tim Cook meets musicians in Vietnam and drinks an egg coffee in April 2024. Image credit: Tim Cook/X

India success

Apple held the top spot in Japan with 56 percent of the market, with shipments declining 4 percent year-on-year, followed by Google, which saw a 37 percent jump in sales and took 12 percent of the market.

Xiaomi also regained the top spot in India, the world’s second-biggest smartphone market, with 18 percent market share and 6.7 million shipments, Canalys said.

In mainland China Xiaomi took 14 percent of the market, up year-on-year from 13 percent, making it the fifth-largest vendor after Vivo, Oppo, Honor and Huawei.

In Southeast Asia, considered an increasingly critical smartphone market, Xiaomi’s focus on the low end saw it sell 4 million units in the quarter for a share of 17 percent, taking it to third place behind Samsung and Oppo.

Vivo and Transsion also saw success in the region, both taking 14 percent of the market with sales of 3.4 million and 3.3 million units.

A Samsung store in Malaysia. Image credit: Samsung
A Samsung store in Malaysia. Image credit: Samsung

Premium growth

Samsung’s global focus on the high-end market has produced results in Southeast Asia, where it has invested heavily in marketing and pop-up events to showcase its AI capabilities, Canalys said.

“Vendor investment to develop high-end retail channels and experience stores in the region seems to be yielding positive results, with the premium segment seeing growth,” said Canalys analyst Le Xuan Chiew.

He said the premium segment for devices selling at more than $600 (£470) grew 18 percent year-on-year from 4.3 million units in the first half of 2023 to 5.1 million units in the same period this year.

Apple’s focus on Malaysia and Vietnam, where it is also expanding manufacturing operations, helped it grow 15 percent year-on-year in the first half, the analyst group said.