Samsung records declining QoQ sales as Xiaomi closes in thanks to superb Redmi Note 10 and Mi 11 series shipments

Xiaomi’s ascendancy continues. The company has seen meteoric growth over the past few years, culminating in it dislodging Apple to become the second-biggest smartphone brand in the world—according to a new report by Counterpoint Research.

While Xiaomi snagging second place on the market may win the headlines, perennial top dogs Samsung aren’t quite seeing the same amount of success. The South Korean company recorded a drop in market share Quarter-on-Quarter (QoQ). Samsung saw a 24% drop in sales compared to Q1, but a decent 7% growth versus the same period last year, shipping 57.9 million units in total. Those numbers can be chalked up to the pandemic last year and the current chip shortage respectively.

Apple saw similar numbers, with an 18% QoQ drop but a 30% YoY growth. Counterpoint opines that this advantage over Samsung is down to Apple’s “strong industry relationships, careful supply chain management, expedited shipping, and ability to cut days from factory to point-of-sale.”.

Xiaomi’s sales numbers were ridiculous, though, with the Chinese company recording an 8% QoQ, and a stupendous 98% YoY growth. The reason for that is simple: extremely strong sales of cheaper devices like the Redmi 9, Redmi Note 9, and Redmi Note lineups, while maintaining steady shipments of devices in its premium Mi 11 lineup. The Redmi 9A, for example, was the best-selling Android device in the world for quite a while.

Although Xiaomi’s growth is exceptional, it must be noted that Q2 and Q3 are traditionally Apple’s worst quarters, due to its release schedule. Xiaomi may have second spot for now but that’s unlikely to last till the end of the year, at which point Apple’s next-gen phones would have been accounted for.

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