Xiaomi Posts Most Improved Growth in Q3 2017

According to the latest report recently released by Gartner, the top five smartphone vendors across the globe during the third quarter of this year are Samsung, Apple, Huawei, Oppo, and Xiaomi, and except for Apple, all of them have registered double digit growth during the the three month span. Apple only recorded an increase in smartphone sales of 5.7 percent (more on Apple later).

It goes without saying that Samsung continues to be the king of smartphone sales in the world, finishing Q3 2017 with an increase in smartphone sales of 19.3 percent. As explained by Anshul Gupta, the research director at Gartner, the success of the South Korean phone maker’s flagship device offerings for this year (namely, the Galaxy Note 8, the Galaxy S8, and the Galaxy S8 Plus) has allowed Samsung to distance itself from fierce rival Apple and a trio of very aggressive Chinese brands (Huawei, Oppo, and Xiaomi). Gupta also took the time to point out that the last time Samsung had posted double digit growth was back in the final quarter of 2015, nearly a couple of years ago.

Xiaomi may be fifth in the global rankings of the biggest smartphone vendors in the world, but it has plenty of reason to celebrate -- the Chinese phone maker, after all, posted the most improved growth among the top five, with an increase of 80 percent in smartphone sales during the third quarter of 2017. Quite impressively, much of Xiaomi’s growth has been driven by strong performances in mobile markets outside of its native China, most particularly India, Russia, and in Latin American regions.

Credit also goes to fellow Chinese phone makers Huawei, Oppo, and even Vivo, whose strategy of offering budget friendly and midrange smartphone options (but with attractive specs like good or above average quality cameras and 4G network compatibility) continues to pay off, especially in emerging mobile markets.

As for Apple, the iPhone make has had an interesting third quarter, to say the least. While it is true that the company had officially unveiled three flagship device offerings this year (namely, the iPhone 8, the iPhone 8 Plus, and the iPhone X), two of them (the iPhone 8 models) had hit store shelves late in Q3 2017, which meant that their sales will likely overlap in Q4 2017. Moreover, the more awaited iPhone X was released in November, which meant that Apple’s numbers will probably look better during the final three month stretch of this year, as compared to the third quarter’s.