Search results for

All search results
Best daily deals

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission. Learn more.

Report: Xiaomi already lost its second-place status on the global market

It was nice while it lasted.
By

Published onOctober 29, 2021

A photo of the back of the Mi 11X with Xiaomi's logo visible
Calvin Wankhede / Android Authority
TL;DR
  • Xiaomi earned a second-place slot in the global smartphone market last quarter.
  • Now, one outlet says the company has already lost that status to the usual second-place holder Apple.
  • Samsung is still far and away the leader, though.

Back in July at the end of Q2 2021, we heard some very exciting news. Multiple outlets confirmed that Apple had lost its usual status as the world’s second-largest smartphone OEM.

The company that knocked Apple down a peg was Xiaomi. However, it appears Xiaomi’s hold on that second-place position could be fleeting, as at least one outlet is reporting Apple has reclaimed its second-place status.

See also: These are the best Xiaomi phones you can buy

According to IDC, Apple shipped 50.4 million smartphones over the third quarter of 2021. That’s about 6.1 million more phones than Xiaomi shipped during that same period. By this sole metric, Xiaomi is back in third place.

However, there are a lot of other factors that decide the top-five status of global smartphone OEMs. Yearly shipments, for example, might be a more over-arching metric than quarterly. Revenue is another marker as well as in which pricing category the bulk of smartphones land (premium, mid-range, budget, etc.). The point is that by this one metric — the number of smartphones shipped over one quarter — Apple is Number Two.

Of course, Samsung remains comfortably in the top slot at 69 million phones shipped, roughly 18.6 million more than Apple and 24.7 million more than Xiaomi. Rounding out the fourth and fifth place slots we see a tie between vivo and OPPO, which is how the list usually looks.

The list used to look a lot different. There was a time that HUAWEI was in the top five and even a very brief moment in which it overtook Samsung for the top slot. However, HUAWEI no longer appears in even the top ten — and likely won’t for a long time.

You might like