Xiaomi Sales Climb, But Still Miss Target of 100m Smartphones in 2015

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has published a sales report for its complete 2015, showing that it took the largest slice of the domestic Chinese market last year and saw sales grow despite the maturing Chinese market and slowing economy, but the firm failed to reach its target of 100m smartphones sold.

The 100m target was set in 2014 by Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi, then lowered to 80m in the middle of 2015 when H1 results were less than expected. In the end, the company managed to sell 70m handsets in 2015, an impressive result but surely disappointing to Jun and the rest of the company which has seen a meteoric rise in the last few years.

The company cited the saturation of the Chinese smartphone market as the major reason it failed to reach its goal, with overall smartphone sales slowing as the market reaches maturity and consumer needs change.

The Beijing-based startup is currently valued at $46bn and has built its success on low- and mid-range phones supported by unconventional marketing that has focused on building a loyal online community and avoiding traditional print and television ads.

While the company will hardly be elated about missing its target for the year, it does have cause for celebration in its victory over rival manufacturer Huawei which, despite boosted international brand awareness from its partnership with Google for the Nexus 6P, it beat for first place in terms of sales.

Source: Xiaomi Sales Climb, But Still Miss Target of 100m Smartphones in 2015