INDUSTRY BRIEF: Xiaomi surges to take top spot in China smartphone market

China’s smartphone shipments rose 3.3% in this year’s first quarter, as domestic brand Xiaomi (1810.HK) surged by nearly 40% year-on-year to become the market leader, according to data published on Tuesday. At the same time, Apple’s (AAPL.US) China smartphone shipments tumbled 9% year-on-year in the quarter, making it the market’s fifth-largest brand.

China recorded 71.6 million smartphone shipments in this year’s first quarter, up from 69.3 million a year earlier, according to data tracking firm IDC. The 3.3% growth was more than twice the global smartphone market’s rate of 1.5%. IDC attributed the stronger China performance partly to the country’s recent program to stimulate consumer spending by offering subsidies for people who trade in old electronics for new ones.

Xiaomi was the leader in the first quarter with 18.6% market share, up sharply from 13.8% a year earlier, as its shipments rose 39.9% to 13.3 million smartphones. That propelled it past former leader Huawei, which was the second-biggest brand in the first quarter with 12.9 million smartphones shipped, up 10% year-on-year. Oppo and Vivo came in third and fourth, respectively, with modest year-on-year gains of less than 4%.

By Doug Young

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