Apple, Huawei, and Samsung. Recently, we see these three smartphone vendors slug it out at the top in the quarterly global rankings. But the third quarter of 2020 is different, according to market-research firm Canalys.

Xiaomi entered the top three for the first time, as it toppled Apple, which did not launch the iPhone 12 series in September. It shipped 47.1 million units from July to September and posted a growth of 45% annually.

Xiaomi capitalized on Huawei’s issue with the United States, which has prevented its fellow Chinese technology giant from preinstalling Google Mobile Services on mobile devices, among others.

“Xiaomi executed with aggression to seize shipments from Huawei,” Canalyst analyst Mo Jia said. “There was symmetry in Q3, as Xiaomi added 14.5 million units and Huawei lost 15.1 million.”

Jia cited Europe, which is a key battleground for smartphone companies. “Huawei’s shipments fell 25%, while Xiaomi’s grew 88%. Xiaomi took a risk setting high production targets, but this move paid off when it was able to fill channels in Q3 with high-volume devices, such as the Redmi 9 series.”

In Europe, a key battleground for smartphone companies, Xiaomi took a risk setting high production targets. The move paid off. But Xiaomi still faces competition from Vivo and OPPO, which are also expanding their operations in the region

Jia warned that Xiaomi still faces stiff competition from Vivo and OPPO, which he said have grown to cover a wide range of price bands in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries. The two smartphone manufacturers are likewise expanding their operations in Europe, where they are positioning themselves as more premium options for carriers. This might trap Xiaomi at the low end.

Realme, which has also set its sights on Europe, is also becoming a serious contender. “Realme is growing beyond ecommerce and threatens to undercut Xiaomi as it transforms its go-to-market strategy,” Jia added.

You can read the full report of Canalys here.

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