Xiaomi recaptures Chinese smartphone leadership from Apple

Apple’s newfound dominance of the Chinese smartphone market may already be a thing of the past.

Recent successes in the region have helped Apple to some record results, with the larger iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus proving a big hit in the highly lucrative Asian market.

However, analyst Canalys sayss that during the quarter ending June 2015 Xiaomi has overtaken Apple to once again claim the lion’s share of the country’s smartphone market, grabbing 15.9 per cent thanks to a 48 per cent month-on-month sales increase.

Its latest handset the Mi Note was likely to thank for the numbers.

In fact, Apple was pushed down to third place, Huawei placing second at 15.7 per cent. Samsung came fourth behind Apple.

The China smart phone market continues to mature, remaining stagnant quarter-on-quarter. Competition among major brands has never been so intense,” Canalys analyst Jingwen Wang said. Huawei recorded the highest smart phone shipments in its history without compromising its product margin or profitability.

Apple and Samsung have both increased their sales activities in the China market, expanding rapidly in channel coverage through flagship stores and small to medium size phone retailers respectively. Xiaomi is under immense pressure to maintain its top position in the quarters to come.”