Xiaomi Passes Samsung as Top Chinese Vendor in 2014

Xiaomi continued its inexorable rise in China, rising to 13.7% of market share in Q4 of 2014, while Samsung’s ongoing decline in China continued through the last quarter, slipping to 7.9% of the market, down to fifth place behind Xiaomi, Apple, Huawei, and Lenovo.

However, Samsung’s overall 2014 performance, while worse than 2013, was still good enough for second place on the year. The Korean giant captured 12.1% of the market over the course of the entire year, a mere 0.4% behind Xiaomi. All in all, it’s a pretty tight race between the top five vendors, with a mere 3.1% of market share between all of them.

Samsung had previously been the giant in China, owning 18.7% of the market in 2013 with Lenovo in a distant second and Xiaomi way off the radar. So what happened?

Xiaomi was extremely aggressive in 2014, releasing moderately-priced high quality phones. Add to the mix a bevy of sales and promotions and Xiaomi now sits atop the rankings, having experienced nearly 187% growth year-on-year.

Apple also had a hot Q4 thanks to its new line of iPhones, which was good enough for second place in the fourth quarter, but still left Cupertino out of the top five rankings on the year.

As for Lenovo, the Motorola acquisition is starting to bear fruit and we can expect to see it rise in the overall rankings, though #3 on the year is nothing at which to scoff.

Samsung had a so-so year in 2014. The Galaxy S5 was met with a lukewarm reception and tepid sales, and there seemed to be a general mood of deflation around brand, as if consumer excitement plateaued in 2013 and had nowhere to go after an underwhelming S5 update.

2015 will be a crucial year for Samsung, and it can’t afford to another year of drastic contraction, not just in China, but globally. We can expect a new Galaxy S6 within the next few weeks, likely at MWC, and there’s no doubt the bean counters in Korea are waiting with bated breath.

Xiaomi will also need to be on its toes if it intends to fight off an embattled Samsung and rising Lenovo. 2015 should be a fun year to watch.

Source: IDC

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