Chinese Stalwarts are Bringing the Fight Back to Xiaomi

If you talk to anyone in Asia about smartphones and it's difficult to have a conversation without bringing up Xiaomi. Not least because they have quickly become the fifth-largest smartphone manufacturer in the World. In recent months however, it would appear that the same brands that Xiaomi fought off in China to get to where they are today are bringing the fight right back to them, and it could start to really affect their growth going forward. As Business Insider is reporting, Xiaomi's figures might be great right now, but that might not hold true for much longer.

According to figures from Strategy Analytics, during Q2 of this year Xiaomi controlled 4.6% of the global market, an improvement from the 3.5% during the same period last year. As well as this they shipped almost 20 Million smartphones, an increase of 5 Million from the previous year. These are impressive figures, but Huawei has recently enjoyed some decent results, and there's no stopping their growth with the Honor brand. Huawei has been pegged as the faster growing smartphone vendor in the world, and Strategy Analytics' Neil Mawston makes it clearly by saying that "Xiaomi is facing intense competition from Huawei, Meizu and others."

Xiaomi has successful expanded into India, another important market, and have quickly become a cult favourite in the region, but at home things are heating up. Huawei and Meizu are pushing back against the tide of affordable Xiaomi devices, and it would seem that the Chinese customer is ready for something a little different. Outside of China, companies like Huawei and ZTE already have the upper hand – excluding Xiaomi's presence in India, naturally – with Huawei shipping high-end devices like the P8 in Europe, and ZTE launching the Axon for an incredible price.

Whether or not things start to change for Xiaomi this year remains to be seen, with Q3 results still to come. However, with just China and India as their main markets – with others throughout South-East Asia – it's become clear that Xiaomi needs to expand into the West to keep things moving. After all, there are only so many devices one company can sell in one region.

Source: Chinese Stalwarts are Bringing the Fight Back to Xiaomi