The pandemic has emptied the pockets of consumers around the globe. Sometimes, people are forced to give up on favorite brands and look for cheaper analogues. As a result, the leading brands lose their leadership to their rivals.
For instance, Xiaomi surpassed Samsung and Apple to become the number one smartphone brand in the world for the first time ever. According to Counterpoint, in June, sales of Xiaomi smartphones soared by 26%. It helped the company take first place in the ranking of the fastest-growing brands. The company's monthly share in global smartphone sales totaled 17.1% compared to 15.7% for Samsung and 14.3% for Apple. "Since Huawei’s decline began, Xiaomi has been making consistent and aggressive efforts to fill the void. It has expanded into Huawei and Honor legacy markets such as China, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In June, Xiaomi was further helped by the recovery of China, Europe and India and Samsung’s decline due to supply constraints," Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint, said.
Comparing the indicators of the second quarter with the same period last year, growth in sales volume is even more impressive. Xiaomi smartphone shipments jumped by 98% and amounted to 50 million units. High demand was recorded for both mid-range and premium models, which helped Xiaomi achieve the highest level of smartphone revenue in the second quarter. Apart from that, US sanctions, as well as Samsung delays with June deliveries due to coronavirus outbreaks at its main factories in Vietnam paved the way for Xiaomi
