Xiaomi Corp (小米) posted its fastest revenue growth in more than two years after the Chinese smartphone giant grabbed market share from Huawei Technologies Co (華為) when US sanctions increased.
China’s No. 2 smartphone name reported a stronger-than-anticipated 34.5 percent rise in sales to 72.2 billion yuan (US$11 billion) in the September quarter.
More than half of that originated beyond its home country for the first time as Xiaomi took advantage of Huawei’s retreat to delve deeper into markets from Western Europe to India, where it widened its lead.
The firm’s unit shipments surged 42 percent in the third quarter globally, researcher International Data Corp estimated, by far the best performance among brands from Samsung Electronics Co to Apple Inc.
Huawei’s own volumes plummeted 22 percent over that period and it now has to defend its No. 2 position against the likes of Vivo Communication Technology Co (維沃).
Xiaomi is on track to keep expanding its market share thanks to strong demand for budget phones during the COVID-19 pandemic and Huawei’s supply disruptions, China Merchants Securities Co (招商證券) said ahead of the earnings release.
It said in a memo that “Xiaomi’s price-competitive products are attractive amid the economic uncertainties.”
Xiaomi, whose shares have more than doubled this year, reported a rise in adjusted net income to 4.1 billion yuan from a year earlier, beating projections.
It is one of the few major Chinese tech companies to enjoy strong growth abroad — and in developed markets, to boot — at a time when governments from the US to India are erecting barriers to the country’s businesses.
In India, it has managed to cling to the top spot, despite a deep, nationwide COVID-19 lockdown.
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