Samsung has given up its spot as the number one Smartphone vendor across China to the country’s own Xiaomi, according to a new research study from International Data Corporation (IDC). The report puts Xiaomi as the top smartphone company for the year 2014 in terms of shipments.
Samsung has dropped in market share to report 12.1 percent, from the 18.7 percent that was recorded in the previous year. Xiaomi, on the other hand, was able to reach 12.5 percent for the year under study, which is a significant increase for the company from 5.3 per cent in the previous year.
Now in second place, Korean company Samsung has recently faced competitions from the Chinese smartphone manufacturer as well as other companies including Apple with its successful iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus shipments, Huawei and Lenovo with their low-cost and mid-range introductions.
The three companies came in second, third and fourth ahead of Samsung for smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter of 2014, leading to the overall significant drop in year on year. This, however, is not entirely surprising as the company started failing in market share since the third quarter.
And as Samsung dropped, so did Xiaomi start growing its market share that is now scaling to great heights, thanks to its maintained focus to sell low-cost smartphones with amazing specs that everyone would go for as well as the popularity it gained with flash sales in 2014.
With IDC saying Apple’s iPhone 6 shipments contributed to the overall increase in shipments for the year reviewed, the global research company also believes that if companies are able to balance their online and offline strategies then 2015 should see growth.
“With the reduction in operator subsidy, operator-centric vendors in the past such as ZTE, Huawei and Coolpad have increased their shipments online through direct sales as well as through eTailers,” comments Tay Xiaohan, a senior analyst with IDC.
“If they can find an effective balance between their online/offline strategy and find a unique positioning for their online brands, this can be a possible channel that they can use to increase their shipment numbers in 2015,” Tay adds.
So, as it appears Samsung is out in the good books of popularity in China, but then again a recent report also phased out the Korean manufacturer as the top smartphone vendor in India in terms of shipments. Samsung responded they were still top in terms of actual retail sales.
It was also reported by ‘analysts’ that Apple had outdone Samsung as top smartphone vendor in the world due to its success in the sale of its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices, while Xiaomi became the third largest smartphone vendor in the world in two reports for third quarter 2014.
All in interesting reports, and 2015 will also be home to many others so as much as these reports make Samsung’s future in emerging markets look as bleak, we can still wait for a positive report in fortunes to prove otherwise. Furthermore, Samsung as a brand is well trusted in Kenya according to a recent report.
