Apple Outperformed The ‘Apple Of China’ Last Year

Xiaomi has been one of the fastest-growing smartphone companies on the planet these past few years. It remained the top smartphone vendor in its home country of China back in 2014 and 2015. Things took a turn in 2016, though, as the company’s rivals caught up and it also lost its initial edge. Xiaomi, often referred to as the “Apple of China,” was outperformed by the actual fruit company as it shipped more smartphones in China than the local hero.

Latest data from market research company IDC reveals that Xiaomi was the No.5 smartphone brand in China after shipping 41.5 million smartphones in 2016. Apple outperformed it by taking fourth place after shipping 44.9 million iPhones in China, one of the most lucrative smartphone markets in the world.

Interestingly, both Apple and Xiaomi saw their shipments contract in the previous year on an individual basis. Apple shipped 58.4 million iPhones in 2015 but was down to 44.9 million last year. Xiaomi came down from 64 million units to 41.5 million units, this amounts to a 23 percent and 36 percent drop respectively.

Local contender Oppo stormed ahead and took the lead by shipping 78.4 million smartphones, almost double the 35.4 million units it shipped in the previous year. Huawei came in second place with shipments of 76 million units while Vivo also nearly doubled its yearly shipments from 35 million in 2015 to 69 million in 2016.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: China, Xiaomi