Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Sunday, Jul 06, 2025

The world’s hottest smartphone brand is Chinese – and it isn’t Huawei

The world’s hottest smartphone brand is Chinese – and it isn’t Huawei

Xiaomi has benefited from a sanctions-hit Huawei, moving up fast in Europe, Southeast Asia

U.S. sanctions have pummeled Huawei Technologies Co.’s smartphone business. A different Chinese tech company is reaping the benefits.

Xiaomi Corp. has filled the gap left by Huawei in markets from Europe to Southeast Asia to China. It is doing so with a playbook familiar to many Chinese consumer brands: offering functional gadgets comparable to upscale rivals at prices that often undercut them.

No company globally sold more phones in the month of June, as Beijing-based Xiaomi surged past Samsung Electronics Co. , according to market researcher Counterpoint Research. For the second quarter, Xiaomi leapfrogged Apple Inc. to become world’s No. 2 for the first time.

Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun attends a product launch event of Xiaomi Mi9 Pro 5G in Beijing, China September 24, 2019.


In Europe, it grabbed the top spot, with its market share almost doubling to 24% from a year earlier. In price-sensitive markets like Spain, two out of every five phones sold in the second quarter were made by Xiaomi, Counterpoint said. The company was the top vendor in Denmark, Belgium, Ukraine and Russia.

Munza Mushtaq, a freelance journalist in Sri Lanka, swapped her Huawei device in May for a Xiaomi phone. She was driven to make the switch, she said, by the fact that Huawei devices no longer have access to many Google features, a result of U.S. export restrictions.

"Most importantly," she said, was "the fact that Google worked."

John Michael Ausejo, who lives in the Philippines, ditched Huawei last year as well. Shopping for a new device, he found many options too pricey. So he reached for Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 9, which has a battery that can last two days without a charge and has four rear cameras. The phone’s body was made of plastic rather than metal, so he bought a case for protection.

The device cost him about $200. "Everything is there," said Mr. Ausejo, a geoscientist and graduate student.

While other Chinese tech executives keep a low profile, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun is open about the company’s ambitions. He has said he wants to make the company he founded No. 2 for good, then topple leader Samsung within three years as the world’s largest seller of smartphones.


"We reached the top of the European market and became the number one—the first time a Chinese company has achieved this," Mr. Lei said at an event in Beijing earlier this month. Becoming the world’s largest vendor is within the company’s grasp, he added.

Xiaomi’s resurgence follows years of stalled growth. In 2013, it was China’s leading smartphone company until a wave of domestic rivals, including Huawei, knocked it off its perch. Like Huawei, Xiaomi was briefly the target of a financial blacklisting by the Trump administration earlier this year. But the company successfully fought the action and the Biden administration has indicated it plans to make more focused use of the blacklist.

Xiaomi’s rise is most immediately a product of the fall of Huawei, which only a year ago was the world’s largest maker of smartphones after cornering about a fifth of the global smartphone market. But multiple rounds of U.S. sanctions cut Huawei off from crucial computing chips and software and its second-quarter sales plunged by more than 80% from a year earlier.

"European carriers and retailers have simply swapped out Huawei and swapped in Xiaomi," said Neil Mawston, a mobile industry analyst at market researcher Strategy Analytics.

Despite a recent push into higher-end devices, Xiaomi at heart remains a budget-focused brand. For example, Xiaomi’s Mi11 Ultra matches Samsung’s highest-end Galaxy S21 model on features such as camera quality—but the Chinese company’s device is about $400 cheaper, according to a comparison by Neil Shah, a Counterpoint analyst. Both phones were released earlier this year.

"Xiaomi is reaching Samsung level," he said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Germany Seeks Taliban Deal to Deport Afghan Migrants
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
Qatar Airways Clears Backlog of Passengers Following Missile Threats
Iran's Parliament Votes to Suspend Cooperation with Nuclear Watchdog
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
G7 Leaders Fail to Reach Consensus on Key Global Issues
Mass exodus in Tehran as millions try to flee following Trump’s evacuation order
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
Energy Infrastructure Becomes War Zone in Middle East
Iran Conducts Ballistic Missile Launches Amid Heightened Tensions with Israel
Iran Signals Openness to Nuclear Negotiations Amid Ongoing Regional Tensions
Shock Within Iran’s Leadership: Khamenei’s Failed Plan to Launch 1,000 Missiles Against Israel
UK Deploys Jets to Middle East Amid Rising Tensions
Exiled Iranian Prince Reza Pahlavi Urges Overthrow of Khamenei Regime
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Iran Launches Extensive Missile Attack on Israel Following Israeli Strikes on Nuclear Sites
×