Xiaomi is now the second-largest smartphone vendor, beating out Apple

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Move over Apple, Xiaomi is now the second-largest smartphone maker in the world, based on a new report from Canalys on worldwide shipments in the second quarter of 2021.

What’s even more interesting is that they’re nipping at Samsung’s heels, with 17 percent of the global market share, only two percent behind the South Korean powerhouse.

Apple might have made a record $89.6 billion in the second quarter, but their market share stayed fairly static with 14 percent of the global market. Samsung managed to grow sales by 15 percent annually, possibly based on the popularity of the Galaxy S20 FE.

Xiaomi’s ascent comes from an 83 percent annual growth, as its push into other markets accelerates. Latin American sales increased 300 percent in the last year, along with 150 percent growth in Africa and 50 percent in Western Europe.

The top five vendors were rounded up by BBK’s Oppo and Vivo, both taking ten percent of the market. If they weren’t sold under different brands, BBK would actually be the largest vendor by far, as they also own the OnePlus, RealMe, and iQOO brands.

Overall, the global smartphone market grew by 12 percent last quarter. Oh, and if you were wondering whose market share was taken by the increases from Xiaomi and others? It’s Huawei, which was once the second-largest smartphone maker before US-imposed sanctions and trading bans shut them out of the global marketplace.

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Editors’ Recommendations:

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.