Xiaomi Overtakes Samsung, Takes Top Spot in European Phone Shipments in Q2 2021

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is continuing to post solid growth. After overtaking Apple as the number two smartphone vendor in the world in the second quarter of 2021, it’s now become the top seller in Europe for the first time, according to new figures from Strategy Analytics.

Xiaomi topped all vendors with 25% market share as European smartphone shipments posted strong growth +14% YoY to 50 million units. The smartphone market rebound was driven by the continued economic recovery, a healthy demand from consumers with aging devices and appealing value priced 5G devices.

Xiaomi overtook Samsung to take the top spot in Europe, with 12.7 million phones shipped in Q2, up 67.1 percent year-on-year. Samsung’s shipments fell 7 precent in that same period to 12 million units, though the Korean company remains the world’s biggest phone vendor.

Smartphone shipment figures for Europe in the second quarter of 2021. 

Image: Strategy Analytics

Overall smartphone shipments in Europe increased in 2021 thanks to post-COVID recovery, say Strategy Analytics’ researchers, with Apple also showing decent growth. The iPhone maker was up 15.7 percent compared to 2021 thanks to strong interest in the iPhone 12.

Xiaomi’s focus on value, though, seems to have helped broaden its appeal in Europe. “Xiaomi has seen great success in Russia, Ukraine, Spain and Italy among others and found customers eager for its Mi and Redmi series of feature rich, value smartphones,” said Boris Metodiev, associate director at Strategy Analytics, in a press statement.

Xiaomi’s growth has also been assisted by the demise of Huawei, which continues to vacate the European market after its phones lost access to Android and Google services in 2019.

In recent reviews of Xiaomi’s hardware, looking at the company’s flagship Mi 11, we were impressed by the phone’s value. “It costs less than the $799 Galaxy S21 in markets where it’s sold, but in many ways, it has more in common with the $1,199 S21 Ultra,” noted reviewer Sam Byford. “My biggest takeaway from the Mi 11 is that Samsung is lucky Xiaomi doesn’t sell phones in the US.”

Perhaps, buoyed by its success in Europe, Xiaomi will now be considering a US invasion.

Boris Metodiev, Associate Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “The European markets for smartphones had a strong quarter driven by Covid recovery, following the crash in 2020. The highlight of the quarter is Xiaomi emerging as the number one vendor in shipment terms for the first time. Xiaomi shipped almost 13 million units on the continent to displace longtime leader Samsung.

Xiaomi has seen great success in Russia, Ukraine, Spain and Italy among others and found customers eager for its Mi and Redmi series of feature rich, value smartphones.”

Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added: “Samsung shipments dropped -7% YoY in Europe resulting in shipments of 12M units in Q2 2021. Samsung is performing well with new 5G models from the Galaxy A series, but it faces increasing competition from Apple in the high-end and the Chinese vendors in the low-end, and it failed to take advantage of Huawei's demise in Europe”.

Linda Sui, Senior Director noted: “Apple posted a strong quarter, growing +16% YoY and shipping almost 10M units in Q2 across Europe. The iPhone 12 series continues to resonate with loyal Apple customers who were overdue to replace their devices. OPPO (not including Realme and OnePlus) captured almost a 6% market share on the back of the popular OPPO A and Reno series. Rounding out the European top 5, Realme had a breakthrough quarter with the newly launched Realme 8 series, shipping almost 2m units in Q2 2021.

August 03, 2021