Xiaomi just passed Apple in Europe thanks to impressive growth

The Q1 2021 smartphone reports were recently released, and they all show Xiaomi is nipping at Apple‘s heels for second place in terms of global market-share. Now, at least one tracking firm has revealed that Xiaomi has already passed the Cupertino company in a crucial battleground region.

According to Q1 2021 insights by Canalys (h/t: Redmi GM Lu Weibing on Weibo), Xiaomi has moved past Apple in Europe to take second place in the region behind Samsung. More specifically, Xiaomi is said to account for a 23% share of the region compared to Apple’s 19%. The tracking firm added that Xiaomi saw 85% year-on-year growth in Europe compared to Apple’s 22%.

It’s worth noting Xiaomi is a relatively new entrant to Europe and largely offers value for money budget phones that drive volume. Meanwhile, Apple has had a presence in Europe for over a decade now and largely sticks to the premium segment. But this still represents a major win for Xiaomi, as Europe is one of several key smartphone markets. The Chinese brand has also been pushing more premium devices in recent times, so we’ll need to see how this pays off.

Canalys also clarified that Xiaomi was still behind Apple when you narrow the scope down to Western Europe, accounting for 17% market-share versus Apple’s 25%. So it’s clear Eastern Europe is responsible for a ton of Xiaomi’s growth in the greater European context.

Another interesting takeaway from these graphics is that HUAWEI is in a major free-fall right now owing to the US sanctions. The company is now ranked fifth with 3% market-share in Europe and Western Europe, just behind fourth-placed OPPO. In fact, OPPO recorded growth of 153% and 197% respectively. It’s unclear whether this growth is due to OPPO’s relatively recent entry into Europe, HUAWEI’s decline, or other factors.

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