Xiaomi issues statement on 'top phone brands in PH' report

Almost a week ago, we shared market-research firm Counterpoint’s report on the top 5 bestselling smartphone brands in the Philippines from July to September 2019.

Samsung, OPPO, Vivo, Cherry Mobile, and Huawei made it to the list, with Realme — along with Vivo — coming in as the fastest-growing handset company locally.

While Counterpoint said that Xiaomi was still part of the top 10 during that period, it also mentioned that the manufacturer’s growth in the Philippines is slower compared to that in other markets. The market-research company did say that Xiaomi is “slowly gearing up its presence by launching new devices through Mi Authorized Stores and online platforms like Lazada and Shopee.”

Days after, we received a statement from Xiaomi that wishes to clarify the positioning of the brand. We are posting it in full below:

‘While the referenced Counterpoint data was based on sales in third-party retail channels, Xiaomi’s fast and exponential growth in the Philippines this 2019 has been driven by its strong performance in its Mi Authorized Stores and e-commerce stores like Lazada and Shopee, where it dominated their biggest online sales events’

We at Revü have confirmed that the data Counterpoint was able to gather came from all channels combined, not just from Mi Authorized Stores. We also asked for their statement. Here is Counterpoint associate director Tarun Pathak’s reply:

‘Xiaomi has been doing well in the Philippines by expanding its channel reach with Mi Authorized stores and e-commerce partnerships. Its performance in the third quarter was driven by strong sales of Redmi 7 series especially Redmi Note 7 by aggressive features in sub-$150 price tier. It is also launching its new portfolio faster in the Philippines than ever before. In fact, its recent Note 8 series was one of its fastest launch in the Philippines when compared with the launch in countries like China and India’

We’ll leave it at that. Here’s to a stronger local smartphone industry!

Learn About This Author

Alora Uy Guerrero

Editor-in-chief: Alora Uy Guerrero has 22 years of experience as an editor for print and digital publications such as Yahoo. She took time off journalism to manage OPPO’s digital-marketing campaigns. When not busy with her babies, she’s working on Revü, a passion project — or probably traveling or obsessing over her favorite bands, movies, TV shows, and basketball teams.