Xiaomi beats Samsung and Apple in Chinese phone market

Booming Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi has established itself as the producer of the best-selling smartphone in its native China, surpassing Samsung. The Beijing-based company shipped 15 million devices in the second quarter, giving it a 14 percent share of the Chinese market, researcher Canalys said in a statement on its website. Samsung shipped 13.2 million smartphones, giving the South Korean maker about 12 percent of the market.

Xiaomi’s success in China has made the manufacturer the fifth-largest in the world, but there’re a few reasons behind Xiaomi’s success that lie outside of selling smartphones. For one, the company’s got former Google employee Hugo Barra working on its side, and Barra’s made quite a few work relationships in the tech industry that’ll help the company as it tries to expand its reach into Indonesia, India, Turkey, Brazil, The Philippines, Malaysia, and up to an additional 10 markets within the next year.

Xiaomi has more than affordable smartphones, they have carved a unique path of delivering software, not available with other Android models. The version of Android, called Miui, updates every Friday – following feedback and suggestions from consumers. This collaborative effort is paying off extremely well so for the smartphone company.

In addition, Xiaomi also sells apps, Internet services and specialized Android themes. The company’s CEO, who is known as the “Steve Jobs of China,” Lei Jun (and also has a penchant for blue jeans), holds customer appreciation festivals.

Xiaomi’s advantage in the market is that the company sells even its high end smartphones at a lower price point and keeps a low profit margin. Samsung’s high end galaxy phones sell in excess of $500 while Xiaomi’s latest phone the Mi4 is priced at about $320.

Xiaomi itself has to compete with other lower end smartphone manufacturers in China, which it does through its successful marketing efforts and through its e-commerce platform. The lead it achieved in the second quarter was through strong demand of its flagship Mi series phones coupled with its relatively cheaper product line of Redmi phones.