Xiaomi could become the second largest Chinese smartphone brand by Q2 2018

Xiaomi had a stunning 2017. The company saw the most growth of all OEMs last year, growing its global market share by almost 80% and shipping a total of about 95 million smartphone units over the year. The company will see even more growth, according to analytics firm Digitimes, with a report projecting the company to become the second largest smartphone brand in China, ahead of traditionally second-placed OPPO.

According to the report, orders for smartphone components have seen a rise over the past few months in China. That is a welcome development, considering the fact that the Chinese market saw a decline of about 7% in 2017. The demand is said to be so high that smaller companies like Coolpad have been unable to receive their orders, with component producers preferring to cater for bigger companies like Xiaomi, Huawei, and OPPO.

Xiaomi overtook Vivo on the global stage at the end of Q4 2017 to become the fifth-largest brand in the world. In both companies' home China, only Huawei and OPPO currently stand above Xiaomi on the pyramid, and that could change as early as the end of Q1 2018. Digitimes expects Xiaomi to become the second-largest brand, with OPPO, Vivo, and Lenovo completing the top five, in that order.

Do note that the report alludes to Xiaomi's increasing sales in Europe as a factor, so it's obvious the subject is about the biggest Chinese brands—global sales considered—and not just the companies with the biggest market share in China.