Xiaomi recently published its data for the third quarter of 2021 and assumed a slight decline in the smartphone market.
In fact, the Chinese brand was overtaken by Apple due to strong demand for the iPhone 13, but Samsung still holds the leadership on the podium.
Samsung maintains first place with 69.4 million smartphones sold globally
In the earnings presentation for the third quarter of 2021, Xiaomi Chairman Wang Xiang acknowledged the slight decline of the Chinese brand in the smartphone market. The company’s data matches the report previously presented by the market analysis agency Canalys.
That same report showed that Xiaomi had a 13.5% share of the global smartphone market, with 43.9 million units sold, in that period. Despite maintaining the third place on the podium of best sellers worldwide, the Chinese brand registered a slight decrease, since in the previous quarter it held 16.7% of the global market.
For its part, Apple secured the second position, registering 15% of the global market share, in the third quarter of this year. But Samsung is still unbeatable in the first place. The South Korean giant had a 21% share of the global smartphone market, managing to sell 69.4 million units worldwide, in the aforementioned period.
To explain this slight drop for Xiaomi is the strong demand for the iPhone 13 in the period under review and the global chip crisis, according to the president of the Chinese brand. Wang Xiang believes that the shortage of components will have affected Xiaomi’s sales of 10 to 20 million units.
The premium segment of the Xiaomi smartphone registers a rise
But it is not all bad news, according to the same official, the premium segment of Xiaomi smartphones registered an increase. All thanks to the sale of 18 million high-end smartphones in the first three quarters of 2021, which represents 12.8% of Xiaomi’s total shipments.
If to this information we add the fact that the Redmi Note 11 series has broken sales records in the first days with 1 million units sold in China, it is likely that Xiaomi is (even) closer to second place. On the other hand, these data also reflect that the company’s commitment to the premium smartphone segment is paying off.
Xiaomi flagship 12 with dual stereo speaker system
And speaking of premium smartphones, the upcoming Xiaomi 12 flagship was the target of another leak. The well-known leaked Digital Chat Station has just revealed that the Chinese brand’s flagship will have curved sides on both sides that point to a symmetrical stereo speaker design. In other words, the Xiaomi 12 could be equipped with a dual stereo speaker system.
It should be remembered that the Mi 11 series already had a dual speaker system, although this had an asymmetrical design. And it appears that Xiaomi is preparing to stick to a specification that has had its share of success.