Xiaomi becomes world's 3rd largest smartphone vendor, says study

Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone maker, has become the world's third-largest smartphone vendor just three years after first hitting the market, trailing technology giants Samsung Electronics and Apple, according to a new industry study.

Strategy Analytics said Xiaomi accounted for 6 per cent of all 320 million smartphones shipped during the July-September quarter. South Korean technology major Samsung made up 25 per cent share, down from 35 per cent in 2013, due to rising competition from several directions.

Apple's smartphone share also fell slightly to 12 per cent.

"Xiaomi was the star performer," Strategy Analytics Executive Director Neil Mawston said in a statement.

"Samsung continues to face tough competition from Apple at the higher-end of the smartphone market, from Xiaomi and Huawei in the middle-tiers, and from Lenovo and others at the entry-level," Mawston said.

Xiaomi has been the top seller in China, which is its home market, and recently entered the domestic smartphone market, where it sells phones exclusively through e-commerce website Flipkart.

In September, Vice President Hugo Barra told Reuters in Bangalore that the company aimed to sell 100,000 phones a week in the domestic market in October when the country celebrates Diwali.

(Reuters)